Earl M. Johnson, Jr. v. Mayor, City of Jacksonville

── Earl M. Johnson, Jr. v. Mayor, City of Jacksonville ── Court: Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Date: June 10, 2026 Category: NEW USCA11 Case: 23-11937 Document: 89-1 Date Filed: 06/10/2026 Page: 1 of 15 FOR PUBLICATION In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit ____________________ No. 23-11937 ____________________ EARL M. JOHNSON, JR., Plaintiff-Appellant, versus MAYOR, CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, GOVERNOR, STATE OF FLORIDA, Defendants-Appellees. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 3:21-cv-00726-MMH-PDB ____________________ Before JILL PRYOR, GRANT, and TJOFLAT, Circuit Judges. GRANT, Circuit Judge: Confederate memorials are a pressure point. Some say they are significant historical markers that should remain undisturbed— preserved, even. Others are deeply offended by what they see as USCA11 Case: 23-11937 Document: 89-1 Date Filed: 06/10/2026 Page: 2 of 15 2 Opinion of the Court 23-11937 outdated and offensive reminders of a shameful time in our history. Still others likely give the question little thought. Earl M. Johnson, Jr. falls in the middle group, and he asked for a judicial decree that any use of city or state tax dollars supporting a public place with a Confederate name—streets, schools, and the like—violates his statutory and constitutional rights. Like those who came before him seeking to force the government to preserve these memorials, Johnson lacks standing to sue. The political branches—not the federal courts—are the forum for his challenge. His disgust, no matter how deep and how sincere, is not the kind of injury that can give rise to a lawsuit. Indeed, what Johnson seeks is not the removal of the monuments or street names, but a declaration that they are wrong. Because he has not suffered a concrete injury unique to him, he does not have standing to ask for that relief. And with no case or controversy before us, even a statement that we agreed with Johnson would be hollow. We affirm the district court’s dismissal of his lawsuit. I. Earl M. Johnson, Jr., a black resident of the Middle District of Florida, is a descendant of slaves “then-held in Confederate states.” 1 In his complaint, Johnson points to nearly fifty 1 Because this case comes to us in a facial challenge on a motion to dismiss, we evaluate Johnson’s standing “based on the facts alleged in the complaint.” Shotz v. Cates, 256 F.3d 1077, 1081 (11th Cir. 2001). We accept the factual allegations as true, construing them in his favor. Morrison v. Amway Corp., 323 F.3d 920, 924–25 n.5 (11th Cir. 2003). USCA11 Case: 23-11937 Document: 89-1 Date Filed: 06/10/2026 Page: 3 of 15 23-11937 Opinion of the Court 3 “monuments and naming tributes to the Confederacy and White supremacists on tax-funded public land.” The list includes parks, schools, streets, a courthouse mural, and a government building flying the Confederate battle flag. Nine of these are in Duval County, which forms a consolidated government with the City of Jacksonville. See Jacksonville Charter, § 1.101; Ordinance 2010-616-