- Threads follows Twitter in limiting number of posts that users can see The Washington Post
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- Threads To Start Implementing Rate Limits Like Twitter As Mark Zuckerberg Says He’s “Optimistic” About Platform & Focused “On Growing Community” Deadline
- Meta’s Threads to use rate limits. Bluesky missed racist slurs. Business Insider
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Tag Archives: limiting
Justice Department asks court to pause order limiting Biden administration’s contacts with social media companies – CBS News
- Justice Department asks court to pause order limiting Biden administration’s contacts with social media companies CBS News
- Michael Waldman criticizes ‘radical’ court limiting White House contact with social media firms MSNBC
- Biden admin claims ‘irreparable harm,’ seeks to keep meeting with Big Tech after ruling ordered it to stop Yahoo News
- Opinion | After a judge’s social media order, make takedown requests public The Washington Post
- Editorial: Government should not suppress speech on social media. The price is always too high. Chicago Tribune
Health Canada recommends limiting alcohol to just 2 drinks per week | Canada
New alcohol guidelines recommending that Canadians limit themselves to just two drinks a week – and ideally cut alcohol altogether – have prompted intense debate over risk versus enjoyment in a country where the vast majority of adults regularly consume alcohol.
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) this week called for a substantial reduction in consumption, warning that seemingly moderate drinking poses a number of serious health risks, including cancer, heart disease and stroke.
The new guidelines, funded by Health Canada, represent a dramatic shift from previous recommendations issued in 2011, when Canadians were told that low-risk consumption meant no more than 10 drinks a week for women and 15 drinks a week for men.
“We wanted to simply to present the evidence to the Canadian public, so they could reflect on their drinking and make informed decisions,” said Peter Butt, a professor of family medicine at the University of Saskatchewan and a member of the panel that drafted the guidelines. “It’s fundamentally based on the right to know.”
In its measurements, the CCSA considers a standard drink to be a 12oz (355ml) serving of 5%-alcohol beer, a 5oz (148ml) glass of 12%-alcohol wine or a shot glass of 40% spirits.
In the UK, the NHS recommends no more than six 6oz glasses of wine or six pints of 4% beer per week – ideally spread across three days or more. Health officials in the United States recommend no more than two drinks per day for men and only one for women.
But Canadian experts say that new research suggests three to six drinks a week should be considered moderate risk for both men and women, and seven or more drinks a week is high risk. In addition to elevated risk of colon and breast cancer, as well as heart disease and strokes, the CCSA also identified both injuries and violence as negative outcomes from drinking alcohol.
“This isn’t about prohibition. This is simply about reducing the amount one drinks,” said Butt.
The guidelines also warn that no amount of alcohol is safe when pregnant or trying to get pregnant. While abstinence during breastfeeding is the safest option, a standard drink occasionally does not significantly elevate risk.
The new guidelines were met with skepticism by some health experts.
“This type of research often marginalizes other considerations of health and wellbeing from alcohol,” said Dan Malleck, a professor of health sciences at Brock University.
“With their job as the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse and Addiction, there’s no space in there for considering there might be benefits. Their job is to find harm.”
Malleck described the guidelines as “irresponsible”, and said they risk creating “anxiety and stress” among Canadians who once saw themselves as moderate drinkers but now occupy a “high-risk” category.
“The research they’re using also ignores the enjoyment and pleasure and stress relief and collegiality associated with alcohol. None of those things are in the calculation whatsoever,” he said. “We aren’t just machines with inputs and output of chemicals or nutrition. We actually exist in a social space. And that has a significant impact on our health.”
Others, however, see the guidelines as an attempt to help Canadians better understand the realities of alcohol consumption.
“Alcohol is a psychoactive drug. Occasional use isn’t going to have really significant effects. Even if you occasionally use something like heroin, you probably wouldn’t see significant effects on your life. But that’s the thing: people aren’t using alcohol occasionally – they’re using it every day,” said Taryn Grieder, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto.
“The hope is that people will moderate their usage and not drink every day, because we’ve seen research that has shown that alcohol is a carcinogen.”
Grieder says that there are components in alcohol that can be beneficial, but are typically only found in certain drinks.
“A glass of red wine a day might have some benefits. But not beer, not a shot of hard alcohol. I think people took this idea of alcohol possibly having health benefits and really ran with it.”
The CCSA also suggested there could be benefits in mandatory labelling of alcoholic beverages – warning of possible health risks and including guidance on consumption standards.
“It might help change the perception for people, with labels showing cirrhosis of the liver and the possible long-term effects that drinking can have,” said Grieder. “Everyone is different and some people metabolize alcohol differently.
“But these guidelines are for the average person, and the hope is that people will recognize the risks associated with use – and especially long-term use.”
Ryan Seacrest supports CNN limiting Andy Cohen’s NYE drinking
Ryan Seacrest voice his support for CNN’s decision to limit Andy Cohen’s drinking on New Year’s Eve — one year after the Bravo star referred to Seacrest’s performers as “a group of losers.”
“I don’t advocate drinking when one is on the air,” the longtime host of ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” told Entertainment Weekly Monday.
“I don’t know how that started as a tradition, but it’s probably a good idea [to scale back], CNN.”
Each year, Cohen and his best friend Anderson Cooper team up and imbibe throughout the evening’s celebrations, which ultimately take a hilarious turn when Cohen gets drunk enough to insult high-ranking officials such as former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
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“There’s some pretty respectable people or at least one, right?” Seacrest, 48, joked about the hosts of CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live.”
“I think there’s a serious journalist and then a friend of mine who has a lot of fun, but it’s probably a good idea.”
Seacrest blamed Cohen’s insults last year, of which he was a victim, on the alcohol.
“[I don’t] think they would say what they said about our performers if they weren’t drinking,” he explained.
When Cohen, 54, emerged from what must have been a severe hangover at the top of 2022, he issued a mea culpa to Seacrest and the ABC staff.
“The only thing that I regret saying, the only thing is that I slammed the ABC broadcast, and I really like Ryan Seacrest, and he’s a great guy,” Cohen said of Seacrest’s production.
“And I really regret saying that, and I was just stupid and drunk and feeling it.”
He added, “I just kept talking, and I shouldn’t have, and I felt bad about that. So that is the only thing [I regret]. It’s the only thing.”
Supreme Court leans toward limiting judicial scrutiny of U.S. elections
WASHINGTON, Dec 7 (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority on Wednesday appeared to ready to limit judicial power to overrule voting policies crafted by state politicians but might not go as far as Republican North Carolina lawmakers want in a case the liberal justices painted as a threat to American democratic norms.
The court heard arguments in a case the state lawmakers have used to try to persuade the justices to endorse a contentious legal theory gaining traction in conservative legal circles that would prevent state courts from reviewing the legality of actions by state legislatures regulating federal elections.
The Republican lawmakers are appealing the top North Carolina court’s decision to throw out the map they devised for the state’s 14 U.S. House of Representatives districts as unlawfully biased against Democratic voters. Another state court then replaced that map with one drawn by a bipartisan group of experts.
The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, and its most conservative justices including Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch appeared willing to embrace the “independent state legislature” doctrine presented by the Republican legislators.
While the conservative justices in general asked questions that indicated skepticism toward the state court actions, some signaled that the Republican argument that state constitutions cannot constrain the power of legislatures in setting rules for congressional and presidential elections might go too far.
Under the once-marginal legal theory they are now promoting, the lawmakers argue that the U.S. Constitution gives state legislatures – and not other entities such as state courts – authority over election rules and electoral district maps.
The court’s liberal justices suggested the doctrine could free legislatures to adopt all manner of voting restrictions. Lawyers arguing against it also said it could sow confusion by allowing voting rules that vary between state and federal contests.
“This is a proposal that gets rid of the normal checks and balances on the way big governmental decisions are made in this country,” liberal Justice Elena Kagan said, referring to the interaction between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. “And you might think that it gets rid of all those checks and balances at exactly the time when they are needed most.”
America is sharped divided over voting rights. Republican-led state legislatures have pursued new voting restrictions in the aftermath of Republican former President Donald Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.
The court’s eventual decision, due by the end of June, could apply to 2024 elections including the U.S. presidential race.
During the three-hour argument, the justices touched on the issue of enabling federal courts to review state court actions to ensure that judges do not behave like legislators or unfairly apply vague state constitutional provisions such as those requiring free and fair elections to disempower lawmakers.
Conservative Chief Justice John Roberts wondered whether such broadly worded provisions provide proper “standards and guidelines” for state courts to apply.
[1/2] A general view of the U.S. Supreme Court building in the rain the day before the start of the court’s new term in Washington, U.S. October 2, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
ALITO WEIGHS IN
Alito dismissed arguments that legislatures would be unchecked if the Republican position carried the day.
“Under any circumstances, no matter what we say the ‘Elections Clause’ means, Congress can always come in and establish the manner of conducting congressional elections,” Alito said, referring to the Constitution’s elections language.
The doctrine is based in part on the Constitution’s statement that the “times, places and manner” of federal elections “shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.” The Republican lawmakers argued that the state court usurped the North Carolina General Assembly’s authority under that provision to regulate federal elections.
Kagan said the theory would free state legislators to engage in the “most extreme forms of gerrymandering” – drawing electoral districts to unfairly improve a party’s election chances – while enacting “all manner of restrictions on voting,” noting that lawmakers by virtue of coveting re-election may have incentives to suppress, dilute and negate votes.
Kagan said the theory also could let legislatures insert themselves into the process of determining winners in federal elections – a sensitive issue following the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol attack by Trump supporters who sought to block congressional certification of Biden’s 2020 election victory.
‘HISTORICAL PRACTICE’
Some conservative justices appeared to balk at aspects of the Republican arguments.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh emphasized the “historical practice” that “nearly all state constitutions regulate federal elections in some way.” Roberts said another check on a legislature’s power – a state governor’s veto – “significantly undermines the argument that it can do whatever it wants.”
David Thompson, arguing for the North Carolina lawmakers, said the Constitution “requires state legislatures specifically to perform the federal function of prescribing regulations for federal elections. States lack the authority to restrict the legislature’s substantive discretion when performing this federal function.”
Kavanaugh told Thompson that his position on the theory’s breadth “seems to go further” than that conceived by then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist in a concurrence to a 2000 ruling deciding a presidential election’s outcome – an opinion seeing state courts as exceeding their authority on federal elections.
North Carolina’s Department of Justice is defending the state high court’s February ruling alongside the voters and voting rights groups that challenged the map approved by the legislature in November 2021. They are backed by Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration.
Elizabeth Prelogar, arguing for Biden’s administration, said empowering state legislatures the way the Republicans want would “wreak havoc in the administration of elections across the nation” and cause federal courts to become flooded with lawsuits concerning state-administered elections.
Reporting by Andrew Chung in Washington and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill limiting the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings
Washington
CNN
—
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday that limits the use of rap lyrics in criminal court cases in the state.
The law requires “a court, in a criminal proceeding where a party seeks to admit as evidence a form of creative expression, to consider specified factors when balancing the probative value of that evidence against the substantial danger of undue prejudice.”
The new law underscores a larger national conversation around prohibiting the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings, a tactic critics have called a racist double standard and an infringement on First Amendment rights.
Democratic US Reps. Hank Johnson of Georgia and Jamaal Bowman of New York proposed legislation in July that would ban lyrics from being used as evidence in legal claims though there has been no movement on the legislation in the House since its referral to the House Judiciary Committee.
“Artists of all kinds should be able to create without the fear of unfair and prejudicial prosecution,” the Democratic governor said in a statement Friday. “California’s culture and entertainment industry set trends around the world and it’s fitting that our state is taking a nation-leading role to protect creative expression and ensure that artists are not criminalized under biased policies.”
Under the new law, California courts must consider, if relevant and provided, testimony on the context of a genre of creative expression, “research demonstrating that the introduction of a particular type of expression introduces racial bias into the proceedings,” as well as evidence rebutting those findings.
In addition to limiting the use of rap lyrics in California criminal court proceedings, the legislation, which passed unanimously in the California state Senate and Assembly, also encompasses the use of “performance art, visual art, poetry, literature, film, and other media.”
Rap artists Meek Mill, Too $hort, E-40, Killer Mike, YG, Ty Dolla $ign and Tyga were present in a video call with the California governor when he signed the legislation, according to Newsom’s office.
Scholars Erik Nielson and Andrea Dennis, authors of “Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics and Guilt in America,” have argued that “Rap music is the only fictional musical genre used this way because its primary producers are young Black men, who the criminal justice system happens to target.” They say the genre’s lyrics are vulnerable to being perceived as self-incriminating to law enforcement because of trends in first person narration and focuses on “criminal themes” and “violent imagery.”
Calls from the music industry for legislation addressing the use of lyrics in criminal cases have grown in the wake of a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) indictment of Grammy-award winning rapper Young Thug in Fulton County, Georgia, earlier this year. CNN previously reported that some of Young Thug’s song lyrics were used as examples of “overt acts” in his indictment, some of which constitute racketeering.
“Today we celebrate an important victory for music creators in the state of California. Silencing any genre or form of artistic expression is a violation against all music people. The history that’s been made in California today will help pave the way forward in the fight to protect creative freedom nationwide,” Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, said in a statement on Friday.
Easton Oliverson: Little League World Series player faces swelling limiting his ability to see
Doctors told the parents that swelling in 12-year-old Easton “Tank” Oliverson’s face has increased, according to an Instagram account set up to provide updates on his recovery.
“The swelling in his face has gone up, and the doctors have told his parents that it will get worse,” the post reads. “This has limited Easton’s ability to see, creating a unique challenge for him. While we have seen a countless amount of miracles in Easton’s journey (and still are), he is still going to have hard moments like today.”
“Through it all, he still makes sure to tell everyone he talks to that he loves them. Instead of complaining, he chooses to express his love. That’s truly the kind of kid that Easton is, which is why we know he will come out of this with so much strength. Please keep praying for our buddy. We love you all!!”
The post also said that Oliverson, dressed in his Mountain Region gear, was able to watch Friday’s game between his team and Tennessee’s Nolensville Little League from his hospital room.
“This was a very emotional afternoon for him,” the post stated.
Oliverson suffered a fractured skull after falling from a bunk bed at the players’ dormitory in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, early Monday morning. His team, Utah’s Snow Canyon Little League, earned a trip to Williamsport after winning a regional championship in California.
The young athlete was airlifted to a children’s hospital in critical condition. His father told CNN that he was “fighting for his life,” with doctors saying he was just 30 minutes from death. He underwent surgery and was placed in a medically induced coma.
In the days since, Oliverson has made impressive strides toward recovery, as documented on the “miraclesfortank” Instagram account. By Wednesday, he was no longer sedated, and on Thursday, he moved out of an intensive care unit and was able to feed himself.
The Little Leaguer has received an outpouring of support from around the nation. On Saturday, Kevin Cash, the manager of the Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, sent a heartfelt message to Oliverson.
“We’ve been keeping up with your progress and just want to let you know that you have fans that you have never met in Florida who are really rooting for you,” Cash said in an Instagram video posted to @miraclesfortank. “I remember how excited I was to have a chance to play in the Little League World Series. There’s something about baseball that brings people together. It’s like an extended family.”
“We’re here for each other to celebrate the wins and we encourage each other during challenging times. Tank, we are sending positive thoughts and well-wishes to you and the Snow Canyon Little League … Let’s do this for Tank.”
The post thanked the Rays for the message. “Thank you to the @raysbaseball for sending over this heartfelt message. The support means the world and more for Easton and his family!”
CNN’s Jason Hanna, Jason Carroll, and Carolyn Sung contributed to this report.
Amazon and Rite Aid limiting purchases of emergency contraception
Amazon has a temporary quantity limit of 3 unites per week on emergency contraceptive pills, including Plan B, a representative for the company told CNN on Tuesday.
Rite Aid is also limiting purchases.
“Due to increased demand, at this time we are limiting purchases of Plan B contraceptive pills to three per customer,” Alicja Wojczyk, senior manager of external communications for Rite Aid told CNN in an email.
On Monday, CVS told told CNN in an email that although CVS had “ample supply” of Plan B and Aftera — two types of emergency contraception — the company was limiting purchases to three per customer “to ensure equitable access and consistent supply on store shelves.”
On Tuesday, CVS removed those purchase limits, a company representative told CNN.
“Immediately following the Supreme Court decision, we saw a sharp increase in the sale of emergency contraceptives and implemented a temporary purchase limit to ensure equitable access,” Matt Blanchette, Senior Manager of Retail Communications with CVS Pharmacy, told CNN in an email.
“Sales have since stabilized and we’re in the process of removing the purchase limits, which will take effect in-store and on CVS.com over the next 24 hours,” he said.
“We continue to have ample supply of emergency contraceptives to meet customer needs,” Blanchette added.
Emergency contraception reduces the chance of pregnancy after unprotected sex, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Common situations when it is used include after forgetting to take several birth control pills or when a condom breaks or falls off.
The purchasing limits for emergency contraception come after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on Friday. Several states immediately moved to effectively prohibit abortions.
“Using (emergency contraception) does not cause an abortion. An abortion ends an existing pregnancy. EC prevents pregnancy from occurring. EC must be used soon after unprotected sexual intercourse to be effective. It does not work if pregnancy has already occurred,” ACOG said.
Pills, such as Plan B and Aftera, are one type of emergency contraception. Some can be bought over the counter and others require a prescription.
Copper intrauterine devices, or IUDs, can also be used as emergency contraception if inserted within about five days of intercourse.
Luxury stores still limiting crowds post-COVID — and won’t admit why
COVID-19 is waning, but shopping for a Louis Vuitton bag, a Chanel suit or a pair of Gucci loafers increasingly means standing in line outside a boutique — and luxury brands have been conspicuously tight-lipped on why.
Most elite labels leaned into “appointment shopping” during the height of the pandemic, citing the need for social distancing. But as the threat from the virus recedes, some including Cartier and Harry Winston continue to impose the new policy.
They also have failed to convince shoppers and experts alike of their reasoning — if they bother to explain themselves at all. Major brands including Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Cartier didn’t respond to calls and emails from The Post about their persistent use of stanchions in front of store entrances, where queued-up shoppers are quizzed by “greeters” about prospective purchases before entering.
“We recommend booking an appointment prior to your boutique visit, as walk-ins may experience extended wait times,” Cartier’s website advises, without elaborating.
According to experts, roped-off customers can mostly thank a relentless epidemic of smash-and-grab robberies rather than social distancing for ramped-up crowd controls nationwide, including in New York, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco and Seattle. Theft got so bad last year that Beverly Hills hired two private security firms to patrol Rodeo Drive.
Meanwhile, at the Westchester Mall in White Plains, NY, where robbers ransacked a Louis Vuitton store in February, the boutique’s doors were closed, with stanchions inviting shoppers to queue up outside.
A pair of greeters wearing headsets — flanked by a pair of beefy mall security guards — asked customers whether they were there to pick up an order or to shop. Shoppers were let in only when an associate was ready to accompany them inside.
“They don’t want customers looking around the store without a store employee with them,” a sales associate told The Post.
Luxury brands have managed to obscure the embarrassment of the situation partly because making it difficult to enter their stores “creates an aura of exclusivity,” says Steve Dennis, a Dallas-based retail consultant.
“Most of these stores aren’t crowded anyway,” and the lines are getting longer in states like Texas, “which didn’t particularly take COVID seriously,” said Dennis, author of “Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption.”
“The new nightclub, in its own weird way, is getting into a Dolce & Gabbana store on a Saturday,” adds luxury retail consultant Melanie Holland.
Last week, a Chanel executive provoked chatter when he disclosed in an interview that the company plans to open “private” boutiques in Asia next year for top clients. Chanel is hiring 3,500 new employees for the initiative, which experts say could be adopted in the US.
“Our biggest preoccupation is to protect our customers and in particular our pre-existing customers,” Chanel’s chief financial officer Philippe Blondiaux told Business of Fashion. “We’re going to invest in very protected boutiques to service clients in a very exclusive way.”
In response, fashion blog Highsnobiety questioned “What, exactly, do Blondiaux and Chanel want to ‘protect’ its customers from?”
Holland speculated that Chanel may be looking to keep its wealthy clients from becoming targets for thieves after they leave stores. But big spenders also aren’t typically walking in off the street, she adds.
“People who want to spend $25,000 for a small dress don’t want to stand in line,” Holland said. “Those customers are probably making an appointment with their personal shopper — they know that line isn’t meant for them.”
As previously reported by The Post, Madison Avenue boutiques on the Upper East Side in Manhattan including Chanel, Prada and Carolina Herrera are dimming their lights, locking their doors, and opening by appointment only in a bid to deter a wave of brazen daytime shoplifters that have terrorized the glitzy thoroughfare this year.
In February, a team of seven thieves strolled out of The Real Real on Madison at 71st Street with nearly $500,000 worth of handbags and jewelry.
In the wake of such heists, there is simply a “new lack of trust” on the part of retailers “about who is walking through their doors,” said Susan Scafidi, founder and director of the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham Law School.
In practice, most luxury brands assign a sales associate to each customer or group. The days of walking into an exclusive boutique and “browsing” without an associate shadowing you are largely over, said one sales rep.
Meanwhile, staffers at upscale boutiques including Chanel, Gucci and Burberry are being armed with talking points for inquisitive customers, some of which sound plausible.
“We are still dealing with shipping delays from Paris and you don’t want everyone to come in and to notice that the store doesn’t have the latest styles,” a sales associate at a boutique operated by a major luxury label told The Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“You want to be able to tell them one-on-one that the pieces are on the way,” the associate added.
DeSantis signs bill limiting tenure at Florida public universities
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that makes it harder for faculty at state universities to retain tenure, framing the legislation as another way that he and the Legislature are working to prevent educators from bringing their political views into the classroom.
In a wide-ranging news conference at The Villages that took swings at Twitter and alleged that textbook publishers were peddling hidden agendas, DeSantis criticized what he called “lifetime appointments” for university professors.
“We need to make sure the faculty are held accountable and make sure they don’t just have tenure forever without having any type of ways to hold them accountable or evaluate what they’re doing,” DeSantis said. “It’s all about trying to make these institutions more in line with what the state’s priorities are and, frankly, the priorities of the parents throughout the state of Florida.”
Related: Late bill change would weaken tenure at Florida universities, faculty say
Every five years, he said, tenured faculty would be required to go before their university’s board of trustees, which could part ways with them. The text of the bill does not give that level of specificity but rather states a five-year review would take place to be determined by the state Board of Governors. Each state university already requires tenured professors to take part in an annual review.
“Tenure was there to protect people so that they could do ideas that may cause them to lose their job or whatever, academic freedom — I don’t know that’s really the role it plays, quite frankly, anymore,” DeSantis said. “I think what tenure does, if anything, it’s created more of an intellectual orthodoxy. For people that have dissenting views, it becomes harder for them to be tenured in the first place and then, once you’re tenured, your productivity really declines, particularly in certain disciplines.”
House Speaker Chris Sprowls called the legislation a way to prevent “indoctrination.”
He also said it would increase transparency with a provision that would require course syllabuses to be posted online, preventing attempts by professors to “smuggle in ideology and politics.” Sprowls said it would prevent students from signing up for a class on “socialism and communism” when they thought they were signing up for “Western democracy” and classes about “what it means to be an actual American.”
“That’s what this bill is about,” Sprowls said. “Are (students) going to walk into a university system that’s more about indoctrination than it is about getting getting jobs someday and learning skills and the subject matter necessary to get a job? Or is it about some sort of radical political agenda that a particular professor that’s been told they get a lifetime job is going to tell them they have to believe to get an A in their class?”
Andrew Gothard, president of United Faculty of Florida, said the comments by DeSantis and Sprowls reflected a deep misunderstanding of how higher education works.
Currently, the boards of trustees must approve all faculty who receive tenure, Gothard said, adding it is not a lifetime appointment. Faculty can still be fired with cause.
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”Tenure allows for due process and a hearing and has typically protected people from being fired for political reasons,” he said. ”From where we stand, the only indoctrination happening right now is coming from Tallahassee.”
Tim Boaz, president of the University of South Florida’s faculty senate, said he believed the legislation resulted from misconceptions about higher education.
He said the notion that faculty become less productive after getting tenure is flawed and pointed to Florida’s high-ranking universities as the result of faculty’s productivity.
”I think it would be unfortunate if we had tenure in name only,” he said. “Talented faculty across the nation will see this and say that’s not tenure.”
Earlier this spring, when it was unclear what form the bill would take, USF’s newly installed president Rhea Law said she would back faculty members.
“What I have told the faculty is that we absolutely are supportive, we have their backs,” she said.
The measure, Senate Bill 7044, was signed a week after an “intellectual diversity” survey was sent out to all university staff, students and faculty. The survey, required in a bill approved last year, posed questions asking if students felt their professors used their platforms to inject their viewpoint and asked all about their political beliefs. The statewide faculty union called for a boycott of the survey and several faculty leaders expressed fear that it would chill free speech.
The bill signed Tuesday also took on accreditation agencies, requiring state universities to switch accreditors after each cycle. Some faculty leaders have expressed fears that the measure could cause Florida schools to lose research funds and federal student aid.
The provision stems from friction last year between some state leaders and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the accrediting organization for universities in the Southeast. The group had raised questions about political influence at Florida State University and the University of Florida.
At FSU, the issue arose after education commissioner Richard Corcoran made a bid to become the university’s president. Corcoran spoke at Tuesday’s news conference in favor of the bill.
DeSantis said the provision created added accountability.
“It’s going to end this accreditation monopoly,” he said. “The role that these accreditation agencies play, I don’t even know where they come from. They basically are just self-anointed. They have an inordinate amount of power to shape what is going on at these universities.”
Tuesday’s event also featured Taylor Walker, a conservative student from FSU majoring in history. She spoke of bringing conservative commentator Ben Shapiro to campus, sparking applause from residents at The Villages.
“As a conservative on a college campus, sometimes you have to face some hurdles,” Walker said. “There still are some individuals out there who think woke narratives are the only narratives that should be taught on college campuses. As a history major, I can attest to that. As I go into my classes, my professors hold me to high standards, as they should. This bill gives me the opportunity to hold them to the same high standards that they should be held to.”
• • •
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