A federal appeals court has turned down a request to impose a preliminary injunction against the Brevard Public Schools’ public participation policy, which a conservative group challenged as unconstitutional.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down the decision Nov. 21, rejecting an appeal from the Florida group Moms for Liberty to impose an injunction against the school district’s policies for ensuring decorum at public meetings. The opinion supported a previous decision by a Middle District of Florida judge, who found no basis for such an injunction.
“After a review of the parties’ briefs, and with the benefit of oral argument, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s thorough, well-reasoned order,” the 11th Circuit’s three-judge panel said.
A spokeswoman for Moms for Liberty said the group had no comment on the appeals court ruling, but a spokesman for Brevard Public Schools indicated that the lawsuit proceedings would continue at the district court level.
“The 11th Circuit’s opinion did not end the litigation,” Russell Bruhn, the district’s chief strategic communications officer, told the Florida Record in an email. “It is still pending at the lower court level. BPS does not comment on pending legal cases.”
An initial complaint filed against the school district argued that the public participation policy is unconstitutional on its face and in its application, as well as overbroad. In addition, the district and school board members engaged in favoritism toward LGBTQ speakers at a March 2021 board meeting while preventing a plaintiff, Joseph Cholewa, from speaking, according to plaintiffs’ filings.
“Cholewa was permissibly excluded on that one occasion because his speech was abusive and disruptive,” Middle District of Florida Judge Roy B. Dalton Jr. said in his opinion rejecting the injunction.
The participation policy is specific and concrete, rather than vague, the judge said.
The defendants argue that the evidence shows they have applied the policy in a non-discriminatory manner and that the policy is content- and viewpoint-neutral.