A federal appeals court halted Florida’s higher-education provisions of the Stop WOKE Act, finding the law violates the First Amendment. The Eleventh Circuit ruled Tuesday that the act’s restrictions on professors’ classroom expression about race, gender, and other contested topics impose unconstitutional ideological conformity. The decision—2-1—kept an earlier federal injunction in place. Judge Britt Grant wrote for the majority that states cannot suppress disfavored viewpoints or “puppeteer” public university professors, rejecting Florida’s argument that classroom speech is controlled because professors are state employees. The ruling is likely to reverberate beyond Florida as Republican-led legislatures look to the state’s model for reshaping higher education, including efforts related to diversity programs and oversight of what can be taught. The decision also preserves current limits on similar enforcement while further appeals remain possible.