Politics
Last Call for 7.7.26 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
— First Shot —
Another day, another unfavorable decision for Florida from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
A day after rejecting Florida’s constitutional challenge to the federal university accreditation system, a three-judge panel on Tuesday upheld a preliminary injunction blocking Florida from enforcing a key provision in the so-called “Stop WOKE Act.”
In a 2-1 decision, the court affirmed a federal district court ruling that found the law likely violates the First Amendment by restricting professors from promoting or endorsing certain viewpoints related to race, sex and national origin during classroom instruction.
Writing for the majority, Judge Britt Grant rejected Florida’s argument that professors’ classroom speech is effectively government speech because they are state employees.
“Florida’s salary-for-speech rule is a breathtaking assertion of power to ban unpopular ideas from public discourse,” Grant wrote, adding that the law seeks to impose “a pall of orthodoxy” in university classrooms.
The opinion distinguished the state’s authority to establish curricula and manage universities from what it characterized as an effort by the Legislature to prohibit professors from expressing disfavored viewpoints.
While acknowledging that universities may regulate instruction for “legitimate pedagogical values,” the court concluded Florida’s restrictions go much further by targeting specific viewpoints.
“Florida weakly suggests that the Act is meant to penalize discrimination. No — that suggestion is belied by the Act’s own text. Here, as in the companion workplace provision, ‘speech is not regulated incidentally as a means of restricting discriminatory conduct — restricting speech is the point of the law,” the opinion reads.
The panel also rejected Florida’s reliance on Supreme Court precedent governing public employee speech, concluding that those cases are aimed at allowing governments to manage workplaces. Extending the same precedent to university instruction, the court said, would effectively eliminate constitutional protections for academic freedom.
The challenged provision bars instruction that “espouses, promotes, advances, inculcates, or compels” students to believe in any of eight concepts concerning race, color, sex, or national origin. The law permits discussion of those concepts objectively, but speech that “endorses” certain views is a violation, exposing universities to significant financial penalties and professors to disciplinary action.
— Evening Reads —
—”Donald Trump administration guts efforts to prevent gun violence, suppressing reports” via Sheryl Gay Stolberg
—“Don’t invest your political capital in sketchy people” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin
—”My five big thoughts on the Graham Platner debacle” via Chris Cillizza of So What
—”What does JD Vance believe?” via Stephen Rodrick of Rolling Stone
—”People keep sneaking into an empty IBM Campus. This town has had enough.” via Scott Calvert of The Wall Street Journal
—”Trans people are fleeing red states for Seattle. The city can’t keep up.” via Casey Parks of The Washington Post
—“Another Amendment 3 challenge filed by bipartisan pair of former legislators” via Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix
—“The case against Mavel Ruiz is written in her own record” via Peter Schorsch of Florida Politics
—”Florida GOP moves on as Ron DeSantis withholds his endorsement in Governor’s race” via Romy Ellenbogen of the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
—”Andrew Gillum’s Alabama arrest an unwelcome reminder for Florida Democrats” via Michael Van Sickler of the Tampa Bay Times
—”They gave James Uthmeier’s campaign $25,000. Then his office stepped in to help.” via Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times
— Quote of the Day —
“The Florida defendants cannot ‘put together half a donkey and half a camel, and then ride to victory on the synthetic hybrid.’”
— Judge Britt Grant, upholding the block on the Stop WOKE Act.
— Put it on the Tab —
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy-hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
Send an Easy Money to the Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond, who announced the county’s hotel tax revenue broke another record in May.
Is there a Florida version of the Hotel Georgia? If not, no worries — it would be considered contraband at whatever institution ends up housing the latest schemer snagged by the Attorney General.
Don’t circle any dates on your calendar yet, because Democratic front-runner David Jolly and RPOF Chair Evan Power served the organizers of a proposed October gubernatorial debate a Wait For It.
— Breakthrough Insights —
— Tune In —
Rays, Yankees continue series
The Tampa Bay Rays continue a series at home against the New York Yankees tonight at Tropicana Field (6:40 p.m. ET, TBS).
The Rays entered this week’s four-game series four games ahead of the Yankees in the American League East. After a nine-game winning streak was snapped with back-to-back losses in Houston to the Astros, the Rays dropped the series opener to the Yankees, 5-1, narrowing the race for the best record in the American League to three games.
New York’s Jose Caballero homered twice in the Yankees’ victory.
The Rays swept the Yankees in a three-game series in St. Petersburg in April, then the two teams split a pair of games in New York in May, with one of the scheduled games postponed due to weather.
Four Rays were selected for the American League All-Star roster, including Junior Caminero, who will start at third base and also participate in the Home Run Derby. Yandy Diaz was selected as a designated hitter while pitchers Drew Rasmussen and Bryan Baker were also selected to the squad.
The series continues tomorrow and concludes on Thursday before the Rays welcome the Seattle Mariners to town for the final series before the All-Star break.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
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