Three University of Florida professors have secured legal counsel in the wake of the university’s decision to deny their requests to act as paid expert witnesses in a lawsuit challenging the state’s new voting rights law.
Professors Daniel Smith, Sharon Austin and Michael McDonald had requested permission to testify as expert witnesses for plaintiffs who oppose Senate Bill 90, which had the backing of Gov. Ron DeSantis. In the view of critics, SB 90 is discriminatory in that it creates hurdles to voters who want to vote by mail, bars people from providing water to citizens standing in line to cast ballots and restricts access to ballot drop boxes.
The attorneys representing the professors, David A. O’Neil and Paul Donnelly, contend that the university’s policy undermines the faculty members’ credibility as expert witnesses.
"Historically, faculty from the University of Florida have regularly served as expert witnesses in court proceedings, sharing their expertise on a broad range of topics,” the attorneys said in a statement emailed to the Florida Record. “Now, when three professors’ testimony may threaten politicians’ political agendas, the university has abruptly ignored its longstanding policy and practice, violating the professors’ First Amendment rights and denying their academic freedom.”
O’Neil and Donnelly said they would fight the university’s order to protect the free-speech rights of their clients.
In a statement on Monday, University of Florida President Kent Fuchs and Provost and Senior Academic Affairs Vice President Joe Glover emphasized that the professors are free to testify in the federal case, which is before the Northern District of Florida, provided there are no payments made in exchange for their testimony.
“If the professors wish to testify pro bono on their own time without using university resources, they are free to do so,” the statement from the two university officials said.
The university is committed to upholding the right to free speech and faculty members’ right to academic freedom, they said in the prepared statement. But the officials also signaled that the policy would be under review as well.
“We are immediately appointing a task force to review the university’s conflict-of-interest policy and examine it for consistency and fidelity,” the statement said. “While the existing policy was revised just last year, it is critical to ensure the policy advances the university’s interests while protecting academic freedom.”
University officials have said in letters to the professors that their outside activities can lead to conflicts of interest for the university when they go against stated policies of the DeSantis administration.
The United Faculty of Florida, which represents faculty members and graduate assistants, opposed the university’s decision in a statement last week.