US judge blocks UF policy silencing professors

[struggle4progress]

2. Gag Order on Florida Professors

BY AARON MCDADE ON 1/21/22 AT 6:50 PM EST

... Six professors sued the university over its policy requiring faculty to get approval before testifying as experts in court, saying the university's refusal to allow them to testify in multiple cases because of conflicting views with the state government amounted to a violation of their First Amendment rights, according to the Associated Press.

The lawsuit started when three professors were told they could not testify as experts in a lawsuit challenging a new law that places restrictions on mail-in voting and makes other changes to the state's elections, the Tallahassee Democrat reported ...

Another professor joined the lawsuit after being denied a request to testify in a case over the authority of school districts to require masks, the Democrat reported ...

"Today's decision is a ringing endorsement of the critical importance of faculty free speech and academic freedom to the health of our democracy," David A. O'Neill, an attorney for the professors, told the Florida Politics news website. "The University may no longer prohibit faculty members from sharing their views with courts and the public just because the ruling political party doesn't want to hear their truth" ...

https://www.newsweek.com/judges-ruling-compares-gag-order-florida-professors-china-suppressing-free-speech-1671840