Judge: UF can’t stop professor testimony in cases conflicting with state position

A federal judge on Friday temporarily prohibited the University of Florida from enforcing a policy that restricted faculty members from providing expert testimony in cases that conflict with positions taken by the state.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker granted a preliminary injunction on a conflict-of-interest claim brought by six faculty members, but he left in place for the time being a school policy that in some cases prohibits faculty from citing their university affiliation when serving as expert witnesses.

“Our society would be immeasurably poorer without Plaintiffs’ speech,” the judge wrote.

The six professors had sued the University of Florida, claiming it infringed upon their First Amendment rights by requiring them to get approval before serving as expert witnesses in outside cases. They claimed their requests were rejected by the university because they conflicted with the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis and were asking for a preliminary injunction to block the university’s policy.

Last fall, the university prohibited three professors from testifying as experts in a lawsuit challenging a new Florida election law pushed by DeSantis that critics say restricts voting rights.

Facing an outpouring of criticism, UF President Kent Fuchs asked the office responsible for approving professors’ outside work to greenlight their request. Fuchs and other university administrators appointed a task force that affirmed the school’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom and said there would be a presumption of approval when faculty requested to serve as expert witnesses.

The university had argued in court papers that since the policy was changed, and the professors had failed to show they were harmed, there is no need for an injunction. But the professors argued that a future threat of university censorship remained.