[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________

No. 19-13604 ________________________

D.C. Docket No. 0:15-cv-60185-WJZ

FORT LAUDERDALE FOOD NOT BOMBS, NATHAN PIM, JILLIAN PIM, HAYLEE BECKER, WILLIAM TOOLE,

Plaintiffs - Appellants,

versus CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE,

Defendant - Appellee.

________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________

(August 31, 2021) Before LAGOA, HULL, and MARCUS, Circuit Judges. MARCUS, Circuit Judge: USCA11 Case: 19-13604 Date Filed: 08/31/2021 Page: 2 of 65

This case presents the second appellate skirmish in Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs’s (“FLFNB”) challenge to Fort Lauderdale’s efforts to shut down the practice of sharing food with the homeless in downtown Stranahan Park. FLFNB hosts food-sharing events in order to communicate the group’s message that scarce social resources are unjustly skewed towards military projects and away from feeding the hungry. In Round One, a panel of this Court held FLFNB’s food sharing to be expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment and remanded the case to the district court to address whether the City’s regulations actually violated the First Amendment. Now, in Round Two, we must decide whether Fort Lauderdale Park Rule 2.2, which requires City permission for social service food- sharing events in all Fort Lauderdale parks, can withstand First Amendment scrutiny as applied to FLFNB’s demonstrations.

It cannot. The Park Rule commits the regulation of FLFNB’s protected expression to the standardless discretion of the City’s permitting officials. The Park Rule bans social service food sharing in Stranahan Park unless authorized pursuant to a written agreement with Fort Lauderdale (the “City”). That’s all the rule says. It provides no guidance and in no way explains when, how, or why the City will agree in writing. As applied to FLFNB’s protected expression, it violates the First Amendment. It is neither narrowly drawn to further a substantial government interest that is unrelated to the suppression of free expression, nor, as

2 USCA11 Case: 19-13604 Date Filed: 08/31/2021 Page: 3 of 65

applied, does it amount to a reasonable time, place, and manner regulation on expression in a public forum. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of the City and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

A.

Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs is a nonprofit unincorporated association affiliated with the international advocacy organization Food Not Bombs. FLFNB advocates the message “that food is a human right, not a privilege, which society has a responsibility to provide for all.” Fort Lauderdale Food Not Bombs v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 901 F.3d 1235, 1238 (11th Cir. 2018) (“FLFNB I”).

At the center of FLFNB’s efforts are its weekly food sharing events in Fort Lauderdale’s downtown Stranahan Park. Stranahan Park “is known in the community as a location where the homeless tend to congregate and, according to FLFNB, ‘has traditionally been a battleground over the City’s attempts to reduce the visibility of homelessness.’” Id. “At these events, FLFNB distributes vegetarian or vegan food, free of charge, to anyone who chooses to participate. FLFNB does not serve food as a ch