Court Opinion

ID: 9475817
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 05:39:12.36364+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:44:57.380998
License: Public Domain

ANDERSON, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
I agree with the majority opinion that the “central issue presented by plaintiffs’ complaint was that the solicitation permit requirements imposed upon the Unification Church in its outdoor solicitations were unconstitutional.” I also agree that the preliminary injunction afforded relief to plaintiffs on this central issue. I also agree that the summary judgment later entered by the court, granting plaintiffs relief only as to indoor solicitation, did not constitute “a favorable judgment on the central issue in the case.” At this point, my agreement with the majority opinion ends. I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the relief on the central issue of outdoor solicitation obtained by plaintiffs in the preliminary injunction somehow survives the entry of the later summary judgment. The majority reaches this conclusion notwithstanding the fact that the summary judgment opinion clearly rejected plaintiffs’ claim for relief with respect to outdoor solicitation, holding that “the record shows no discrimination by the City in requiring permits for outdoor solicitation.” 538 F.Supp. 514, 517 (S.D.Fla.1984). Whether or not a formal judgment was entered to this effect, as a practical matter, it is clear that the relief obtained by plaintiffs in the preliminary injunction on the crucial issue in the case was vitiated upon entry of the later summary judgment. Doe v. Busbee, 684 F.2d 1375 (11th Cir.1982), squarely holds that a plaintiff is not a prevailing party when it obtains initial relief in the district court which is later vacated. In this case, just as in Doe v. Busbee, the initial relief obtained by plaintiffs on the crucial issue was vitiated by later court action. I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the instant case is distinguishable from Doe v. Busbee, because I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the initial relief obtained by plaintiffs in the preliminary judgment somehow survived the later summary judgment.1
With respect, I dissent.

. Plaintiffs apparently conceded below that the amendment to the ordinance mooted the case. However, even if the instant suit were a catalyst motivating the amendment, the amended ordinance provided no relief with respect to the central issue of outdoor solicitation. The plaintiffs’ concession may have been more in the nature of an abandonment.