Florida orders the deactivation of Students for Justice in Palestine chapters at its public universities

On 24 October 2023, Ray Rodrigues, chancellor of the State University System of Florida, sent a memorandum to the presidents of the state's universities. It ordered them to deactivate the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters on their campuses. Only two public universities had one: the University of Florida (UF) and the University of South Florida (USF). The directive was issued "in consultation with Governor DeSantis", according to the document. It accused the chapters of violating Florida's law on material support for terrorism. The accusation rested solely on a "toolkit" circulated after 7 October by the national organisation, National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP), from which the local chapters say they are independent.

During a Republican primary debate on 8 November, Ron DeSantis claimed he had "deactivated" the groups, accusing them of making "common cause with Hamas" and saying tax dollars would not fund "jihad". The following day, before the university system's Board of Governors, Rodrigues acknowledged that both chapters were still active. Their constitutions stated that they were not subordinate to the national organisation. Both universities had also obtained legal opinions warning that officials who carried out the order could face personal liability. Rodrigues announced that the chapters would instead be asked to sign an affirmation that they rejected violence, were not part of the Hamas movement and would follow the law. The governor's spokesman called it "reprehensible" that university administrators were creating "bureaucratic roadblocks".

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) called the directive a "dangerous and unconstitutional" threat to free speech. It argued that requiring students to publicly renounce particular views amounted to compelled speech in breach of the First Amendment. On 16 November 2023, the UF chapter, represented by the ACLU, the ACLU of Florida and Palestine Legal, sued in federal court to block the order. On 31 January 2024, the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida denied the request for a preliminary injunction and later dismissed the case. It found that, in light of the chancellor's public statements, officials no longer intended to deactivate the chapters. The judge nonetheless noted that the group's members could reasonably feel anxious at being repeatedly described as "terrorists" by the governor. The ACLU called for the order, still posted on the chancellor's website, to be formally withdrawn.