Eleventh Circuit rejects Florida ‘salary-for-speech,’ keeps Stop WOKE block

On July 7, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction blocking Florida from enforcing challenged Stop W.O.K.E. higher-education restrictions tied to how professors discuss race- and sex-related concepts in university classrooms—at least against the plaintiffs in the ongoing case.

What the Eleventh Circuit decided

In Pernell v. Lamb (challenging Stop WOKE higher-ed restrictions), the appellate court kept the preliminary injunction in place. A key part of the reasoning: the court rejected Florida’s “salary-for-speech” theory, which argued that because the state pays university instructors, classroom teaching should be treated like government speech that Florida can control by viewpoint.

What Florida’s rules targeted

Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. higher-education provisions target classroom-related instruction that, according to the challenged language, could penalize professors for pushing certain race- and sex-related beliefs among students. The lawsuit argues those rules amount to viewpoint-based classroom limits.

As the case framed it, the question was whether Florida could use its higher-ed compliance framework and implementation mechanisms to impose those limits.

Why “salary-for-speech” didn’t work

Florida’s argument would have tried to move the dispute into a government-speech lane: if professors’ classroom messaging could be treated as state-controlled, the state would have more room to regulate viewpoint.

The Eleventh Circuit declined that approach. With the injunction affirmed, Florida is blocked for now from enforcing the challenged higher-ed provisions against the plaintiffs while litigation continues.

What to watch next

A preliminary injunction is not a final decision on the merits. But it is an enforceable court order—so the practical effect of the July 7 ruling is that the blocked provisions remain off-limits for enforcement against the plaintiffs during the case’s current posture.

Readers should watch for further filings and procedural steps that could affect how broadly (or narrowly) the injunction applies as the litigation moves forward.

Sources

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit opinion (Pernell v. Lamb / Stop WOKE higher-ed restrictions) — Opinion (filed July 7, 2026)
• Florida Board of Governors Regulation 10.005 — Prohibition of Discrimination in University Training or Instruction (implementation framework)
• ACLU press release on the Eleventh Circuit ruling (plain-language overview)
• Bloomberg Law — reporting on the appeal decision and procedural context
• FindLaw legal blog summary (reader-friendly breakdown)