A federal judge has halted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s attempt to enforce an executive order labeling the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) as a “terrorist organization.” The judge determined that the order infringes on First Amendment rights and exhibits traits of unconstitutional coercion.

In a comprehensive 30-page ruling released on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction that prevents DeSantis and his administration from implementing the executive order against CAIR.

Judge Walker’s decision centers on whether the Governor has the authority, outside of an emergency, to unilaterally classify a major Muslim civil rights organization as a “terrorist organization” and deny government benefits to those supporting it. Walker unequivocally concluded that such actions are beyond the Governor’s power, stating, “The First Amendment prohibits the Governor from leveraging his office to make political statements at the expense of constitutional rights.”

Walker, who has previously clashed with DeSantis, criticized the Governor for attempting to use his position to “bully” others. The judge acknowledged that while DeSantis is entitled to express his views and try to persuade the public, there is a clear distinction between persuasion and unconstitutional coercion—one that the Governor has overstepped.

Emphasizing that political maneuvering does not constitute an emergency, Walker stated that the executive order represents unconstitutional coercion under the First Amendment. He further noted that DeSantis failed to provide any justification that could challenge the presumption of the order’s unconstitutionality.

“Political grandstanding does not an emergency make. Defendant’s EO amounts to unconstitutional First Amendment coercion and Defendant has provided nothing to overcome the presumption of unconstitutionality,” the judge said.

CAIR, which states that its mission is to “protect civil rights, enhance understanding of Islam, promote justice, and empower American Muslims,” sued in December over the designation. The court filing claimed that executive order 25-244, “Protecting Floridians from Radical Islamic Terrorist Organizations,” was a “punitive, discriminatory action” and that the state governor “usurped the exclusive authority of the federal government to identify and designate terrorist organizations by baselessly declaring CAIR a terrorist organization.”

In the order, DeSantis made like Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and declared that CAIR’s “ties to Islamic extremist groups,” mentioning Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood by name, made it, and those who provide the organization with “material support” or “expert advice or assistance,” ineligible for “any contract, employment, funds, or other benefit or privilege from such Executive or Cabinet Agency or any entity regulated by such Executive or Cabinet Agency or from any County or Municipality of the State.”

Ultimately, Walker found the plaintiff had standing to sue over the order’s “coercion of third parties to cut ties” with CAIR, a form of “indirect censorship” and a prior restraint. Citing a “Florida-based production company[‘s] withdr[awal] from an agreement to produce a podcast with Plaintiff because of the EO,” the judge said the “speech injury is concrete and neither speculative nor conjectural” and that an injunction was “substantially likely” to “redress” that harm.

“Defendant offers no evidence to show how cutting off benefits to third parties who engage with Plaintiff in any way furthers an interest in protecting public health and safety,” Walker wrote. “By threatening the production company—indeed, by broadly threatening anyone who wishes to do business in Florida—Defendant stifles Plaintiff’s speech.”

In a parting shot buried in a footnote, the judge said it “pains” him to “have to point out that not all Muslims are terrorists.”

“It should be lost on no one that Defendant’s EO targets one of America’s largest Muslim civil rights organization for indirect suppression of speech. But, as we all know, it is easy for those in power to target minority groups with little pushback. Sadly, history teaches that it is often minority religious groups who find themselves in the crosshairs. And here, the Muslim community presents an especially easy target for Defendant, inasmuch as they make up less than 1% of Florida’s population,” the order said.

While DeSantis’ office didn’t immediately react to the adverse ruling, and with the possibility of an appeal, CAIR litigation director and general counsel Lena Masri and CAIR-Florida executive director Hiba Rahim said enforcement of DeSantis’ “lawless proclamation” has been rightly blocked.

“[N]o governor has the right to violate the Constitution by unilaterally declaring an American organization whose speech he dislikes a ‘terrorist’ group and then punish them and their supporters, all without due process,” the statement said. “The right to free speech is one of the Constitution’s most fundamental guarantees. CAIR and CAIR-Florida will, God willing, continue to stand as a shield for the American Muslim community and defend free speech, religious freedom and due process for everyone in our nation.”