Judge Tosses Free Speech Lawsuit Against DeSantis by Pro-Palestine Students

The student groups claimed their speech was ‘chilled’ and their reputation harmed due to the state’s deactivation order.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to his supporters after finding out the 2024 Iowa caucuses results at the Sheraton Hotel in West Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 15, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

A district judge dismissed lawsuits from two pro-Palestine student organizations against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration after the groups were threatened with dissolution due to their alleged support for terror acts.

On Oct. 24, the chancellor of the State University System of Florida issued a memorandum to university presidents. The memo discussed deactivating two chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in state universities. Chancellor Ray Rodrigues pointed out in the memo that National Students for Justice in Palestine had supported actions that qualify as terrorism and the two chapters should thus be deactivated.

The order was issued in consultation with Mr. DeSantis.

The SJP chapters at the University of South Florida and the University of Florida filed lawsuits against the deactivation order, claiming that it would harm their reputation and restrain free speech.

On Jan. 31, U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker dismissed the lawsuits, stating that plaintiffs failed to establish standing in the case as no action had been taken by officials to deactivate them, and they could not prove harm to free speech or reputation.

In a Nov. 9 meeting with the state university system’s board of governors, Mr. Rodrigues acknowledged that the two student groups’ constitutions clearly stated that they were not subservient to the national organization, as he had suggested in the original memo, Judge Walker pointed out in his order.

During that meeting, the chancellor also revealed that university officials were concerned they could be exposed to personal liability if they deactivated the student groups, the judge said. The two lawsuits from the student groups came after this meeting.

The judge pointed out that neither Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Rodrigues, nor the university board of governors have the authority to punish student organizations, and that this power lies with each university’s board of trustees.

The boards of trustees of the two universities have not taken any steps to deactivate the two student groups after receiving counsel that doing so could risk opening up members to personal liability, Judge Walker noted.

“In short, the record demonstrates that neither deactivation nor criminal investigation is imminent. Instead, this Court finds that no actions have been taken in pursuit of deactivation under the Chancellor’s memorandum,” the order said.

Anti-Israel Student Groups

Following Judge Walker’s order, Howard Simon, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, called for Mr. Rodrigues to withdraw the deactivation order. The ACLU is representing the University of Florida chapter of SJP.

The deactivation “should never have been issued—because it violates the free speech rights of university students and the important role that universities play in American life to vigorously debate all social issues free from censorship.”

Brian Hauss, senior staff attorney with ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, called on the chancellor to “formally acknowledge that the deactivation order will not be enforced by removing it from his official website.”

The Oct. 24 memo from Mr. Rodrigues that instructed the deactivation of the two student groups is still live on his website.

The action against anti-Israel, pro-Hamas student groups on college campuses was a key part of Mr. DeSantis’ presidential campaign.

During a campaign event, he called the anti-Israel positions of many colleges “a huge problem for our country to see” and a “disgrace to the nation.”

“When I’m president, if you’re a foreigner here on a student visa, and you’re making common cause with Hamas, I’m canceling your visa, and I’m sending you home,” he said.

In November, Republican state Sen. Blaise Ingoglia filed Senate Bill 470, which calls for cutting off funds for college students who “promote a foreign terrorist organization,” stating that such individuals are “ineligible for any institutional or state grants, financial aid, scholarships, or tuition assistance, etc.”

An organization would be deemed a terror group if it is classified as such by the U.S. State Department. In addition, the bill requires that public colleges and universities in Florida inform the U.S. Department of Homeland Security if any student on campus on an F-1 student visa “promotes” a foreign terror group.

“Florida taxpayers should not be in the business of subsidizing the education of terrorist sympathizers who wish to do us, and others, harm,” Mr. Ingoglia said at the time.

Mr. DeSantis recently invited Jewish students who perceive anti-Semitic sentiment on American campuses to transfer to institutions in Florida.

“If they do decide to come to Florida, we will welcome them with open arms,” he said during his annual State of the State speech on Jan. 9.

“The pro-Hamas activities and rampant anti-Semitism that we’ve witnessed throughout the country on these campuses have exposed the intellectual rot that has developed on so many college campuses.”