Florida Bars State Professors From Testifying in Voting Rights Case

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/29/us/florida-professors-voting-rights-lawsuit.html?smid=tw-share


No paywall
https://archive.ph/RDr4e

Three University of Florida professors said in a federal court filing on Friday that they had been barred from assisting plaintiffs in a lawsuit to overturn the state’s new law restricting voting rights, an extraordinary limit on speech that raises questions of academic freedom and First Amendment rights.

University officials told the three that because the school was a state institution, participating in a lawsuit against the state “is adverse to U.F.’s interests” and could not be permitted. In their filing, the professors sought to question Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, on whether he was involved in the decision.

Mr. DeSantis has resisted questioning, arguing that all of his communications about the law are protected from disclosure because discussions about legislation are privileged. In their filing on Friday, lawyers for the plaintiffs said the federal questions in the case — including whether the law discriminates against minority groups — override any state protections.

Spokespeople for Mr. DeSantis and the university could not be immediately reached for comment.
The university’s refusal to allow the professors to testify was a marked turnabout for the University of Florida. Like schools nationwide, the university has routinely allowed academic experts to offer expert testimony in lawsuits, even when they oppose the interests of the political party in power.

*snip*

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. This is a real shitty move

[malaise]

4. This is counter hegemony on steroids

These fascists are everywhere

[Girard442]

3. Florida. The North Korea of the United States.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Sounds like a civil rights or first amend issue.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. Adding a link to the article in the Washington Post:

Politics

University of Florida bars faculty from testifying in voting rights lawsuit against DeSantis administration

By Andrew Jeong
Today at 4:25 a.m. EDT

The University of Florida barred three faculty members from testifying for plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging a voting-restrictions law enthusiastically embraced by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), which activists say makes it harder for racial minorities to vote, in a move that raises sharp concerns about academic freedom and free speech in the state.

The public university said the three political scientists — Daniel A. Smith, Michael McDonald, and Sharon Wright Austin — could pose “a conflict of interest to the executive branch” and harm the school’s interests if they testified against the law signed by DeSantis in May.

“As UF is a state actor, litigation against the state is adverse to UF’s interests,” school officials said, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post.

Lawyers attempting to reverse the Florida law, also known as Senate Bill 90, have sought to question DeSantis on whether he was involved in the decision to prevent the academics from testifying, according to the New York Times, which first reported on the university’s move.

{snip}

By Andrew Jeong
Andrew Jeong is a reporter for The Washington Post in its Seoul hub. Twitter https://twitter.com/hj257

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Foundation for Individual Rights in Education statement on the University of Florida decision

Link to tweet

FIRE statement on University of Florida decision to prevent professors from testifying in voting rights lawsuit
by FIRE

October 30, 2021
FIRE is deeply concerned by a report in The New York Times that the University of Florida has barred three professors from participating as witnesses in a voting rights lawsuit against the state of Florida.

FIRE has said it before, and we’ll say it again: The profound civic importance of fair trials requires the ability of fact and expert witnesses to come forward to testify truthfully without fear that their government employer might retaliate against them. Public university faculty are no exception. We call on UF to reverse course immediately.

UF should be aware that Plymouth State University’s ill-considered decision to punish faculty who had testified in a trial ultimately cost the state of New Hampshire’s taxpayers $350,000. FIRE warned Plymouth State then, and we’re warning UF now: If you pick a fight with the First Amendment, you will lose.

[sakabatou]

8. WTAF?