This story was updated on May 28 at 5 p.m.

Patrick Keefe says he just wanted to teach Toni Morrison鈥檚 鈥淏eloved.鈥�

The high school English teacher has long included the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about slavery in his curriculum at Litchfield鈥檚 Campbell High School. And in the past, he had questioned students about whether Morrison鈥檚 themes about the legacy of slavery applied to the present.

But after a state law passed in 2021 that regulated how teachers may talk about race and other concepts to students, Keefe became more cautious, he testified in a deposition last year. Any student-led discussion about structural racism might lead to a complaint under the new law, and might cause Keefe to lose his teaching license, he feared.

On Tuesday, a federal judge cited Keefe and other teachers鈥� examples in an order striking down the law, siding with teachers unions and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire and ruling that the law is unconstitutionally vague.

In , Judge Paul Barbadoro held that the law, known by opponents as the 鈥渄ivisive concepts鈥� or 鈥渂anned concepts鈥� law, violated teachers鈥� 14th Amendment rights because it is too vague for them to follow.

鈥淭he Amendments are viewpoint-based restrictions on speech that do not provide either fair warning to educators of what they prohibit or sufficient standards for law enforcement to prevent arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement,鈥� Barbadoro wrote, referring to the statutory changes passed by the law.

The law prohibits K-12 public school staff from any instruction that advocates for four concepts: that a person of any race, gender, sexual orientation, or other characteristic is inherently 鈥渟uperior鈥� to another; that any individual is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive against another for any characteristic; that an individual should be discriminated against or receive adverse treatment for any characteristic; and that people of one characteristic 鈥渃annot and should not attempt to treat others without regard to鈥� one of their characteristics.

The characteristics covered by the law are a person鈥檚 鈥渁ge, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, marital status, familial status, mental or physical disability, religion, or national origin.鈥�

The law, which was in part modeled after an executive order by President Donald Trump that applied to federal employees and was repealed by President Joe Biden, was presented by Republican lawmakers as an anti-discrimination statute meant to ensure that all students were treated equally. It came as Republican lawmakers raised concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts implemented in public schools, and argued that teachers were espousing 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� in classrooms.

The law allowed parents to bring complaints to the state鈥檚 Commission for Human Rights against teachers and school staff who they believed violated the new anti-discrimination statute. And it gave the State Board of Education the power to revoke educators鈥� teaching licenses if they were found by the commission to be in violation.

But teachers unions and others raised concerns that the prohibited concepts were too unclear to follow and would result in educators self-censoring instruction around certain topics such as race or gender for fear of losing their teaching credentials.

In his order Tuesday, Barbadoro sided with the state鈥檚 two teachers unions 鈥� the National Education Association of New Hampshire (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers of New Hampshire (AFT) 鈥� who had argued that the law violated their 14th Amendment rights because it did not provide clear guidance of what teachers should or shouldn鈥檛 teach.

Barbadoro鈥檚 ruling grants 鈥渄eclaratory relief鈥� to plaintiffs, meaning he is ruling that the law is unconstitutional, but it does not grant 鈥渋njunctive relief鈥� 鈥� a stricter ruling that would have stopped the state from carrying out the law. In his order, Barbadoro wrote that he didn鈥檛 believe he needed the latter relief because he believed the state would respect the ruling and stop enforcing the law.

The ruling was a setback for the state, which had argued that the Attorney General鈥檚 Office had given teachers sufficient guidance in a 鈥淔requently Asked Questions鈥� released in 2021 that outlined scenarios in which teachers would violate or not violate the law.

There are no known cases of New Hampshire teachers who have been found by the Commission for Human Rights to have violated the law.

But Barbadoro said there were a number of scenarios that the FAQs did not address. One such unanswered question centered on Keefe鈥檚 attempts to teach 鈥淏eloved.鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

According to his deposition, Keefe had asked for clarity from his school鈥檚 administration but 鈥渨as told there was none available other than the Attorney General鈥檚 Frequently Asked Questions,鈥� Barbadoro noted.

Barbadoro also noted the example of Jennifer Given, a former high school social studies teacher at the Hollis Brookline High School who 鈥渇elt the need to significantly modify her teaching methods 鈥榦ut of fear that [she] would be accused of鈥� violating the Amendments, regardless of whether she was actually doing so.鈥�

And he argued that the uncertainty applied to extracurricular activities as well, citing the testimony of Ryan Richman, a high school history teacher at Timberlane Regional High School. Richman said as a faculty adviser for the school鈥檚 Model United Nations team, he felt the law hampered his ability to help students for their competition in fear of saying something that might be seen as a violation.

Barbadoro used the examples to bolster his larger conclusion.

鈥淭he Amendments are vague not because they subject teachers to severe professional sanctions, but because they fail to provide teachers with sufficient notice of what is prohibited and raise the specter of arbitrary and discretionary enforcement,鈥� he ruled.

He also said that the vagueness would allow state officials to apply their own arbitrary interpretations to enforcement.

鈥溾�� Because the Amendments fail to establish 鈥榤inimal guidelines to govern [their] enforcement,鈥� officials are free to 鈥榩ursue their personal predilections鈥� when applying the law,鈥� Barbadoro wrote.

The decision was hailed by the plaintiffs; Gilles Bissonnette, legal director of the ACLU of New Hampshire, called it 鈥渁 victory for academic freedom and an inclusive education for all New Hampshire students.鈥�

鈥淣ew Hampshire鈥檚 鈥榖anned concepts鈥� law stifled New Hampshire teachers鈥� efforts to provide a true and honest education,鈥� agreed NEA-NH President Megan Tuttle in a statement. 鈥淪tudents, families, and educators should rejoice over this court ruling which restores the teaching of truth and the right to learn for all Granite State students.鈥�

And it was cheered on by Democrats, including the two lead Democratic candidates for governor. Former Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig praised the plaintiffs who 鈥渇ought this unconstitutional law.鈥� In her own statement, Executive Councilor Cinde Warmington said, 鈥淭eachers should be free to teach 鈥� the truth 鈥� and students should be free to learn.鈥�

Republicans said they would redouble efforts to pass the bill. In a statement, former state Senate President Chuck Morse, a Republican candidate for governor who had helped push for the law in the Senate, said he was 鈥渄eeply disappointed鈥� in the decision but vowed to press on.

鈥淎s Governor, I will work tirelessly with lawmakers, educators, and community leaders to draft and pass a stronger bill that addresses the court鈥檚 concerns while keeping our fundamental goal intact: to prevent the dissemination of any materials that promote racial superiority or inferiority,鈥� Morse said.

In a post on X, State Rep. Keith Ammon, a New Boston Republican, wrote: 鈥淛udge Barbadoro just put stopping Critical Race Theory back on the ballot in November.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. New Hampshire Bulletin maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Dana Wormald for questions: info@newhampshirebulletin.com. Follow New Hampshire Bulletin on and .

Late Thursday, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction in a suit challenging the employer portion of Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act, suspending enforcement of the law in the workplace. The Obama-nominated judge wrote in his Honeyfund v. DeSantis : 

“In the popular television series Stranger Things, the ‘upside down’ describes a parallel dimension containing a distorted version of our world. Recently, Florida has seemed like a First Amendment upside down. Normally, the First Amendment bars the state from burdening speech, while private actors may burden speech freely. But in Florida, the First Amendment apparently bars private actors from burdening speech, while the state may burden speech freely.”

A separate lawsuit filed Thursday morning challenges the portion of the law that applies to colleges and universities.

A federal lawsuit filed Thursday charges that a Florida law designed to 鈥渇ight back against woke indoctrination鈥� by limiting classroom discussions of race and gender violates the constitutional free speech rights of college students and professors.

Florida’s Stop Wrongs Against Our Kids and Employees (Stop W.O.K.E.) Act took effect July 1. It prohibits workplaces and schools from requiring training or instruction that may make some people feel they bear 鈥減ersonal responsibility鈥� for historic wrongdoings because of their race, gender or national origin.

But Jerry Edwards, staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida, one of the legal organizations behind the case, said the law unconstitutionally censors the free expression of higher education students and educators.

鈥淭he Stop W.O.K.E. Act is a shameful result of propaganda and fearmongering,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淎 free state does not seek to curtail the inalienable right to free expression in its college and university classrooms.鈥�

The Florida Department of Education did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Florida is one of 17 states that have sought to restrict how educators cover topics related to race and gender, according to a . 

However, it鈥檚 the only state that applies its censorship law to higher education, said Leah Watson, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union鈥檚 Racial Justice Program.

鈥淭here is a longstanding history in the Supreme Court and courts across our country of recognizing the freedom of professors, lecturers and educators in higher education to determine what to teach and how to teach it,鈥� she told 社区黑料. 

Seven Florida professors and one undergraduate are named as plaintiffs, represented by the national ACLU, ACLU of Florida, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the law firm of Ballard Spahr. The suit names the state university system鈥檚 board of governors and several other officials as defendants. It requests an injunction seeking an immediate halt to enforcement of the bill in colleges and universities.

Plaintiff Russell Almond is an associate professor teaching statistics at Florida State University and covers how to use race as a variable in empirical research. Provisions in the Stop W.O.K.E. Act that prohibit educators from presenting 鈥渃olorblind鈥� ideologies as racist put his teachings in jeopardy, the lawsuit charges.

Another professor, Dana Thompson Dorsey, will teach a course in 鈥淐ritical Race Studies: Research, Policy and Praxis鈥� at the University of South Florida this school year. She fears that explaining how racism is embedded in American institutions 鈥� a central aspect of the scholarly framework 鈥� could put her in violation of the law. While the Sunshine State does not explicitly ban Critical Race Theory, Gov. Ron DeSantis鈥檚 office has said the law is intended to .

鈥淚n Florida, we will not let the far-left woke agenda take over our schools and workplaces. There is no place for indoctrination or discrimination in Florida,鈥� DeSantis said after he signed the bill into law in April.

The act forces many educators to present foundational principles of their disciplines in a 鈥渇alse light,鈥� presenting them as 鈥渄isputed when it鈥檚 honestly not,鈥� said Watson. 

Plaintiff Johana Dauphin, a senior at Florida State University, worries that she will be ill prepared for graduate school if the law interferes with her professors鈥� ability to convey key understandings that students in other states receive.

鈥淚 fear that this law will cause my professors to avoid discussing race and gender altogether, which will result in my perspective and lived experience as a Black, female student being effectively minimized and erased in the classroom,鈥� said Dauphin. 鈥淎s a student, I deserve to see myself and the issues that impact me 鈥� including issues around race and gender 鈥� reflected in my classroom discussions.鈥�

Thursday鈥檚 filing marks the third lawsuit the ACLU has brought against a statewide censorship law. Similar cases in Oklahoma and have yet to be decided.

A previous legal challenge seeking to prevent the Stop W.O.K.E. Act from taking effect was dismissed by a federal judge in June. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker clarified in a 23-page order that he was not 鈥渄etermining whether the challenged regulations are constitutional, morally correct or good policy.鈥� Rather, the four plaintiffs 鈥� two professors, a student and a diversity, equity and inclusion consultant 鈥� .

Other lawsuits challenging the Florida law remain undecided. At an early August hearing, Walker appeared to arguments leveled against the state by several businesses, including a Ben & Jerry鈥檚 franchise. The federal judge emphasized the vagueness of a particular section that labels training discriminatory if it causes an employee to believe a person of 鈥渙ne race, color, sex, or national origin cannot and should not attempt to treat others without respect to race, color, sex or national origin.鈥�

鈥淎pparently, I鈥檓 a person of below-average intelligence, because I have no idea what that means,鈥� said Walker.

John Ohlendorf, an attorney representing the state, defended the provisions: 鈥淭he state of Florida has a compelling interest in preventing employers from forcing employees to listen to speech that suggests one race is inherently superior to another.鈥�

The case brought Thursday is 鈥渇ramed differently鈥� than prior challenges, Watson said. It has yet to be assigned, but it鈥檚 possible Walker could be the one to review it. Should that happen, the ACLU hopes for a speedy ruling, as he has moved in a matter of weeks on previous decisions around the bill. 

鈥淲e鈥檙e confident the Stop W.O.K.E. Act unconstitutionally infringes upon academic freedom and students鈥� right to learn,鈥� said Watson. 鈥淚’m not able to comment predicting what the court may say.鈥�