We The People

The Constitutionality of Florida’s Education Bill

April 14, 2022

Share

At the end of March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 1557, also called the “Parental Rights in Education Bill.” Critics of the bill have referred to it as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

Controversy has surrounded the bill since its inception. President Biden referred to it as “hateful,” but supporters say the bill is limited in scope and has been misinterpreted.

Constitutional law experts Joshua Matz of Kaplan Hecker & Fink and Eugene Volokh of UCLA School of Law join host Jeffrey Rosen to discuss the debate over the bill and others like it.

 

FULL PODCAST

Please subscribe to We the People and Live at the National Constitution Center on Apple PodcastsStitcheror your favorite podcast app.

This episode was produced by Melody Rowell. Research was provided by Kevin Closs, Ruben Aguirre, Sam Desai, and Lana Ulrich.

 

Participants

Joshua Matz is a Partner at Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP and an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University. His practice includes complex commercial disputes, constitutional and civil rights law, and Supreme Court and appellate litigation. With Larry Tribe, Matz is the co-author of Uncertain Justice: The Roberts Court and the Constitution (2014) and To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment (2018).

Eugene Volokh is the Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA Law School. He is the author of the textbooks The First Amendment and Related Statutes (6th ed. 2016), and Academic Legal Writing (5th ed. 2013), as well as over 90 law review articles. He is the founder and coauthor of The Volokh Conspiracy, a leading legal blog.

Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.

 

Additional Resources

 

TRANSCRIPT

This transcript may not be in its final form, accuracy may vary, and it may be updated or revised in the future.

 

SUPPORT THE PODCAST!

Your generous support enables the National Constitution Center to thrive as America’s leading platform for nonpartisan constitutional education and civil dialogue.  

 

Stay Connected and Learn More

Questions or comments about the show? Email us at [email protected].

Continue today’s conversation on Facebook and Twitter using @ConstitutionCtr.

Sign up to receive Constitution Weekly, our email roundup of constitutional news and debate, at bit.ly/constitutionweekly.

Loading...

Explore Further

Podcast
The NCC’s 2024 National First Amendment Summit

The State of Free Speech, on campus and online

Town Hall Video
2024 National First Amendment Summit

Co-hosted by FIRE and NYU’s First Amendment Watch

Blog Post
A new Supreme Court term begins in the shadow of a presidential election

The U.S. Supreme Court opens a new term on the eve of an intense, historic election in which the justices may be called on to play…

Educational Video
AP Court Case Review Featuring Caroline Fredrickson (All Levels)

In this fast-paced and fun session, Caroline Fredrickson, one of the legal scholars behind the National Constitution Center’s…

Donate

Support Programs Like These

Your generous support enables the National Constitution Center to hear the best arguments on all sides of the constitutional issues at the center of American life. As a private, nonprofit organization, we rely on support from corporations, foundations, and individuals.

Donate Today

More from the National Constitution Center
Constitution 101 logo
Constitution 101

Explore our new 15-unit core curriculum with educational videos, primary texts, and more.

Photo of student watching online program
Media Library

Search and browse videos, podcasts, and blog posts on constitutional topics.

Painting of Founders meeting
Founders’ Library

Discover primary texts and historical documents that span American history and have shaped the American constitutional tradition.

News & Debate