A short excerpt from the long opinion today in African People's Ed. & Defense Fund, Inc. v. Pinellas County, written by Eleventh Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom, joined by Judge Andrew Brasher and District Judge Paul Huck (S.D. Fla.):
Florida nonprofit African People's Education and Defense Fund twice applied for COVID-relief grants from monies made available to Pinellas County by the federal government. The Pinellas County Board of Commissioners initially approved APEDF's first grant request but later revoked that approval; the Board denied the group's second grant application outright.
APEDF sued, contending that the Board had revoked the first grant and denied the second on the basis of race and because of the group's association with the "Uhuru Movement"—which APEDF describes as a collection of "like-minded groups and individuals promoting Black community empowerment."
The court allowed APEDF's First Amendment to go forward:
