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 disinterestedness is above all suspicion, whose independence is beyond all doubt, and whose devotion to the whole country, as distinguished from any single class or group is above all question.” He asserted “the question of academic freedom” is also “the question of intellectual and spiritual leadership in American democracy.” Echoing this belief 35 years later, Justice Frankfurter opined that “[i]t is the special task” of our professors—the “priests of our democracy”—“to foster those habits of open-mindedness and critical inquiry which alone make for responsible citizens.” Wieman, 344344 U.S. [sic] at 196 (Frankfurter, J., concurring).

In this case, the State of Florida lays the cornerstone of its own Ministry of Truth under the guise of the Individual Freedom Act, declaring which viewpoints shall be orthodox and which shall be verboten in its university classrooms. Borrowing from Professor Beard’s comments—which are equally applicable here—under the State of Florida’s control, those “who love the smooth and easy will turn to teaching,” so long as “[p]erfunctory performance of statutory duties … bring[s] the paycheck.” But educators “of will, initiative, and inventiveness, not afraid of