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Pernell v. Florida Board of Governors of State University

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
84 F.4th 1339 (2023)

Written by Nathan Benedict, JD

Facts

Florida passed a law prohibiting public schools from teaching various concepts related to critical race theory. Seven professors and one student (plaintiffs) sued, claiming that the law imposed impermissible viewpoint restrictions, was unconstitutionally vague, and was enacted with a racially discriminatory purpose. The plaintiffs served subpoenas on legislators, seeking documents that the legislators had used in drafting and passing the law, such as memoranda, notes, studies, and reports. The legislators moved to quash the subpoenas, contending that the requested documents were protected by legislative privilege. The district court ordered the legislators to produce certain documents, holding that the legislative privilege did not apply to purely factual documents, such as bill drafts, studies, and news reports. The district court also held that even if the legislative privilege applied, it had to yield to the federal interest of protecting citizens’ civil rights.

Rule of Law

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Issue

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Holding and Reasoning (Pryor, C.J.)

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Dissent (Pryor, J.)

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