Evans v. U.S. Pipe & Foundry Co‪.‬

The situs of this case is the small city of Apopka, Florida located in the fern and foliage growing region north of Orlando. More specifically, it is the poor, geographically separate, black community of that city. The plaintiffs (appellees and cross-appellants here) are a Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2) class comprising the black residents of Apopka "who are, or have been, subjected to the discriminatory provision of municipal services." The main issues on appeal are whether the ongoing relative deprivation of the black community in the provision of municipal services can lead to a finding of discriminatory intent sufficient to find a constitutional violation under the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment; whether the district court abused its discretion in impounding the federal revenue sharing funds of the City of Apopka; and whether the district court abused its discretion in the award of attorneys fees. On cross-appeal, it is claimed that the district courts denial of certain expenses as part of the costs of litigation resulted from error as to the applicable law.