General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFlorida Supreme Court upholds DeSantis-congressional districts map that eliminated a majority-Black seat
So... the Florida constitution's Fair Districts Amendments are completely useless. We're stuck with a gerrymandered map and majority-minority districts can't be protected. The amendments are just words on a page now.
The court ruled July 17 in a 5-1 opinion that the Legislature couldnt have kept the old Congressional District 5 intact without drawing it based on racial motives, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
We uphold our states congressional districting plan, because the federal Equal Protection Clause prohibits the racially gerrymandered district that the plaintiffs demand, Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz wrote for the majority.
A group of voting-rights groups, including Black Voters Matter and the League of Women Voters of Florida, had challenged the new districts. They claimed the new maps violated Florida's anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts Amendment passed by voters in 2010, which bars the Legislature from drawing maps that diminish the ability of minority groups to elect a representative of their choice.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/florida-supreme-court-upholds-desantis-165231553.html

Chasstev365
(5,770 posts)If they're not going follow rules or laws, redistrict Republicans out of existence in your states.
Passages
(3,305 posts)DeSantis was also behind the Legislatures drawing of the new districts.
In It to Win It
(11,143 posts)The Democratic appointees had reached the mandatory age of retirement so, very much like the 2016 Presidential election for SCOTUS, the election for Florida governor in 2018 was also an election for the Florida Supreme Court. The person that won got to replace the 3 Democratic appointees.
Passages
(3,305 posts)Challenges to Congressional Redistricting in Florida | Video
PBS
https://www.pbs.org Home Videos
Jul 7, 2023 WUCF's NewsNight looks at how a U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down redrawn Congressional district lines in Alabama and Louisiana ...