Judge dismisses racial discrimination case tied to F1 race in Miami Gardens
A federal judge has dismissed a civil rights lawsuit brought by a group of Miami Gardens residents in an attempt to stop Formula One from holding races at Hard Rock Stadium.
In a Tuesday order, District Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. wrote that the suing residents provided no evidence that the county, Formula One and others conspired to intentionally discriminate against them by hosting the race at the stadium, where the Miami Dolphins play. Scola added that they failed to prove how hosting the race at the stadium was akin to hosting it in Downtown Miami, where Dolphins owner Stephen Ross originally wanted to hold the Miami Grand Prix before protests upended his efforts.
“Indeed, many of the complaint’s allegations indicate that the County’s decision was driven solely by race-neutral economic and political motivations,” wrote Scola, who also denied a request by the residents to amend their lawsuit and directed the clerk to close the case. “While it is certainly plausible that the harms alleged will disproportionately impact Black residents, simply by virtue of the fact that [more than 70%] of Miami Gardens’ population is Black, that alone is not enough to show discriminatory intent.”
It was not immediately clear if Scola’s ruling would in fact resolve the lawsuit. Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Betty Ferguson, one of the most outspoken residents against the auto race, said she was disappointed in the dismissal but vowed to explore an appeal of Scola’s ruling.
“I don’t care what you say the intent was,” Ferguson said in an interview. “History shows the harm, undeniably so. What more do you need in order to give some protection to Black communities?”
Al Dotson Jr., the Dolphins’ attorney, told the Herald that the ruling came as no surprise.
“The claims were baseless,” Dotson Jr. said via email. “The excitement and positive enthusiasm in Miami and Miami Gardens around Formula One coming to South Florida is unprecedented. It’s going to benefit many people in South Florida, including Miami Gardens.”
Scola’s decision appeared to clear a path for Hard Rock Stadium to host its first Miami Grand Prix in 2022 as planned, as well as validate the case argued by the Miami Dolphins and Formula One.
“It is absurd to suggest that a general plan to hold a prestigious automotive race on the grounds of a world-class stadium — an event anticipated to bring hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of new jobs to South Florida —could be for the express purpose of racial discrimination,” the defendants’ attorneys wrote in their motion to dismiss.
The original complaint was filed in the U.S. Southern District of Florida in October 2020. In it, the residents alleged that the decision to move the race from the city of Miami to Miami Gardens fit into the county’s long history of mistreatment of its Black residents. About 71% of Miami Gardens’ roughly 110,000 population identify as Black, the latest Census data shows.
Of the residents’ main concerns, noise and air pollution ranked at the top of the list. Still, one of the lawsuit’s major hurdles was that county code permitted automotive racing at the stadium.
The F1 race has long since been a contentious issue in Miami Gardens. Protests have occurred outside the stadium on game days. Residents have filed multiple lawsuits to prevent the race. And, most recently, a Miami Gardens political action committee attempted to overturn the election of three city council members.
This story was originally published July 8, 2021 at 1:11 PM.
