Ft. Lauderdale Food Not Bombs, et al. v. City of Ft. Lauderdale

“Like the Flag, the Significance of Sharing Meals
 with Others Dates Back Millennia.” 
-11th Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan,
Ft. Lauderdale Food Not Bombs, et al. v. City of Ft. Lauderdale

Cities and counties are increasingly restricting sharing food with persons experiencing homelessness in public spaces as a response to the visibility of homelessness, particularly if large groups are gathering in public parks for purposes of sharing a meal together. In a twist on the criminalization of homelessness, local governments are now arresting and citing people who wish to help unhoused people, using laws that restrict the use of public space through permit requirements or force groups to comply with food safety requirements. Due to the efforts of Southern Legal Counsel and our co-counsel, food sharing is now considered protected expression in the 11th Circuit, and governments restricting expressive food sharing activities are subject to First Amendment scrutiny.

Ft. Lauderdale Food Not Bombs, et al. v. City of Ft. Lauderdale, 11 F.4th 1266 (11th Cir. 2021); 901 F.3d 1235 (11th Cir. 2018). The City of Ft. Lauderdale made international news when it enacted an ordinance prohibiting outdoor food sharing as a social service and arrested multiple people for sharing food in public places with persons who are homeless and hungry. We filed suit on behalf of Ft. Lauderdale Food Not Bombs and individual members of the political group to challenge violations of their First Amendment rights. Food Not Bombs shares food as symbolic expression of its political message that society should direct its resources to fulfilling the human right to food instead of war. When the lower court entered summary judgment for the City, we appealed to the Eleventh Circuit, which ruled in a first impression case that sharing food outdoors is protected expression under the First Amendment.

That landmark opinion cited food sharing examples of the Boston Tea Party, Jesus Christ, Pilgrims and Native Americans. The Eleventh Circuit remanded to the Southern District for a determination on the merits of whether the ordinance at issue was unconstitutional in light of its ruling that Food Not Bombs’ food sharing is protected expression. The lower court again ruled for the City finding that the ordinance and park rule did not violate the First Amendment. For the second time, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the lower court and held that the Park Rule as applied to the Plaintiffs’ expressive food sharing activities violates the First Amendment, noting that “Generally, subjecting protected expression to an official’s ‘unbridled Discretion’ presents ‘too great’ a ‘danger of censorship and of abridgment of our precious First Amendment freedoms.’” On the second remand, the parties settled the amount of compensatory damages, and agreed to the entry of declaratory relief and a permanent injunction. Co-counsel is Florida Legal Services and pro bono attorneys Mara Shlackman and Robert W. Ross, Jr.