Venture capital fund Fearless Fund cannot resume making grants to Black women-owned businesses, a divided U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday, siding with an anti-affirmative action group that sued over the program.
The Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the group's discrimination lawsuit was likely to succeed, reversing, opens new tab a judge’s decision that the program should be allowed to continue while the case moves forward.
The 11th Circuit panel, led by Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom, an appointee of former Republican U.S. President Donald Trump, concluded that Fearless Fund’s program did not warrant speech protections under the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.
Another Trump appointee, Robert Luck, joined Newsom’s order. Circuit Judge Robin Rosenbaum, an Obama-era appointee, dissented, accusing the plaintiffs of pretending to be harmed by the program. The grant initiative had been on hold following an earlier decision from the appeals court.
Fearless Fund had argued to the court in January that it had a constitutional right to express its belief in the importance of Black women to the economy through charity.
Attorneys for Fearless Fund in a statement said Monday's ruling contradicted more than 150 years of civil rights law. They said the decision "is not the final outcome in this case."
[]SOURCE RUETERS][
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