The judge said the nonprofit failed to provide evidence that prosecutors were motivated by animus when bringing the charges.
A federal judge on Aug. 7 rejected the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) bid to dismiss charges brought by the Justice Department, saying the nonprofit failed to show that the prosecution against it was vindictive.
The department indicted the SPLC in April on 11 counts of wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The organization was accused of defrauding donors by funneling millions of dollars to informants who infiltrated white supremacist and hate groups that it publicly opposed.
The SPLC filed a motion on May 26 seeking dismissal of the charges, arguing the indictment was vindictive and that the administration targeted it for exercising its First Amendment right to identify, report on, and criticize extremist hate groups.
U.S. District Judge Emily Marks rejected the motion after finding that the SPLC failed to provide evidence showing that prosecutors involved in the case were motivated by animus and that such animus had led to the organization’s prosecution.
“Our Republic recognizes different venues to vindicate different wrongs; federal courts are not the proper forum for airing political grievances. For that reason, the doctrine of vindictive prosecution places a heavy burden on the accused, and decades of precedent counsels against its application here.
“Two things can be true at once: critics are not constitutionally immunized solely because they speak frequently and prosecutorial decisions may be second guessed—if they evince some evidence of animus,” Marks wrote in a 36-page order.
The Epoch Times has reached out to both the SPLC and the Justice Department for comments and did not receive a response by publication time.
The indictment filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama accused the SPLC of secretly funneling more than $3 million in donated funds to leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance, between 2014 and 2023.
The indictment alleged that donated money, which was supposed to dismantle violent extremist groups, actually was being used, in part, to pay and benefit leaders in the exact groups the nonprofit alleged it was trying to take down.
“Donors gave their money believing they were supporting the fight against violent extremism,” Kevin Davidson, then-acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, said in an April 21 statement. “That kind of deception undermines public trust and social cohesion.”
The SPLC denied the allegations and entered not guilty pleas on July 7. The nonprofit said in a May 26 motion that the prosecution was “driven by the White House and FBI leadership’s retribution campaign.”
Jacki Thrapp contributed to this report.
