Florida redistricting lawsuit

[elucidator]

Hear, hear! Or is it “here, here!”? Whatever…

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

The first one. Though I think you have to say it out loud.

[elucidator]

Judge rules Florida Republicans violated law in crafting new congressional...

Our friends over at Daily Kos have posted on this subject, with the useful addition of a map which lays bare the crafting of this monstrosity.

…because Brown’s district deliberately packs black voters into a hideous snake-like monstrosity stretching from Jacksonville to Orlando. (You can’t miss it on the map embedded above.)…

You gotta see it to believe it. Actually, I’ve seen it and still can’t quite believe it.

Anyway, kudos and raves for the League of Extraordinary Women. More and more, I’m coming around to the opinion that We Who Dangle should just butt out and let the curvy guys run things…

[BrainGlutton]

@voltaire

Congrats and thanks to the League of Women Voters, et al. for all the good work while most of Florida couldn’t be arsed to care about the hijacking of their government.

We ought to put the LWV in charge of running all the candidate debates including presidential, like they used to.

[adaher]

I’m not sure a private organization should have that kind of power. But good on them for beating the government.

[Chronos]

Who else other than private organizations should have that power? The news networks, which run them now, are also private organizations. Would you prefer government-sponsored debates?

[Acsenray]

Obviously no one should have the authority to set conditions for debates except the guy who brought the gun.

[BrainGlutton]

@Chronos

Who else other than private organizations should have that power? The news networks, which run them now, are also private organizations. Would you prefer government-sponsored debates?

Actually, the two main parties – that is, a bipartisan organization with no time for third parties – run the debates now, at least the presidential debates.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

The interesting thing about this case is that Republicans have been hoisted on their own petard. Because of the Voting Rights Act preclearance requirements, the constitutional amendments which prohibited this sort of gerrymandering did not go into effect immediately (that is, Rick Scott refused to submit them to the DOJ for approval and thereby basically bypassed them.)

But then SCOTUS struck down the existing preclearance requirements in Shelby County v. Holder, and so the amendments became effective. Every partisan elected office in Shelby County is held by a Republican (though of course they’re Alabama Republicans rather than Florida Republicans.)

[BrainGlutton]

@BrainGlutton

Well, here’s a victory – though apparently in a different case (different appellate district) than the one referenced in the OP.

And the Republicans have/legislature has decided not to appeal that decision, but they are asking the judge to let them keep the present map for this year’s election cycle on the grounds that it’s too late to change it.

[ElvisL1ves]

Which it *wouldn’*t be if they hadn’t decided on foot-dragging instead of good faith.

[Lok]

@elucidator

Judge rules Florida Republicans violated law in crafting new congressional map, orders major redraw

Our friends over at Daily Kos have posted on this subject, with the useful addition of a map which lays bare the crafting of this monstrosity.
You gotta see it to believe it. Actually, I’ve seen it and still can’t quite believe it.

Anyway, kudos and raves for the League of Extraordinary Women. More and more, I’m coming around to the opinion that We Who Dangle should just butt out and let the curvy guys run things…

Sorry, as bad as that is, the Ohio 9th District is worse. If you look closely, there is a section between Port Clinton and Sandusky where the only connection between the two sections of the district is a bridge over a rather large bay. But of course, it makes sense to have her represent large populations in both Toledo and Cleveland, those two areas will never have any disagreements about what they want to happen in Congress.

[BrainGlutton]

Florida Supreme Court orders new congressional map with eight districts to be redrawn.

TALLAHASSEE — In a precedent-setting ruling Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court overturned the state’s congressional districts drawn by the GOP-led Legislature and ordered a new map with eight districts redrawn in time for the 2016 election.

In the 5-2 ruling, with Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissenting, the court provided unprecedented and specific direction to the Legislature, such as redrawing the snake-shaped district of Congressional District 5, now held by Congresswoman Corrine Brown, in an east-west direction.

<snip>

Writing for the majority, Justice Barbara Pariente said the court affirmed “the trial court’s factual findings and ultimate determination that the redistricting process and resulting map were tainted by unconstitutional intent to favor the Republican Party and incumbents.”

But the court reversed the trial court’s order approving the Legislature’s revised redistricting plan “because we conclude that, as a result of legal errors, the trial court failed to give the proper effect to its finding of unconstitutional intent, which mandated a more meaningful remedy commensurate with the constitutional violations it found.”

[Terr]

@BrainGlutton

…such as redrawing the snake-shaped district of Congressional District 5, now held by Congresswoman Corrine Brown, in an east-west direction.

Here’s the funny part: Corrine Brown’s district was born as a result of federal lawsuit filed in 1992 under the Voting Rights Act - all in order to elect a black congressman (or in this case congresswoman).

In fact, the Congressional Black Caucus was against the lawsuit in the OP, and criticized the Democrat leadership for filing it. And NAACP joined the lawsuit on the side of the Florida legislature and against “fixing” that district.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

I don’t see how that’s funny.

ETA: which is to say I think any virtue conferred by giving Corrine Brown a safe seat is probably now stale, and I’m glad that all the districts will need to be drawn fairly.

[BrainGlutton]

@Terr

Here’s the funny part: Corrine Brown’s district was born as a result of federal lawsuit filed in 1992 under the Voting Rights Act - all in order to elect a black congressman (or in this case congresswoman).

In fact, the Congressional Black Caucus was against the lawsuit in the OP, and criticized the Democrat leadership for filing it. And NAACP joined the lawsuit on the side of the Florida legislature and against “fixing” that district.

Perhaps, but in general Democrats are for it.

The ruling is likely to shake up Florida’s political landscape as incumbents face the prospect of a new set of boundary lines close to the 2016 election. In siding with a coalition of Democrat-backed voter groups, the court majority concluded that the boundaries drawn by lawmakers violated the anti-gerrymandering provisions of the state Constitution.

The decision is a victory for the plaintiffs in the case, a coalition of voter groups and the League of Women Voters, who tried and failed to get the lower court to redraw the entire map because of violations to the Fair District amendments to the state Constitution.

The amendments were approved by voters in 2010 by more than 63 percent — over the objections of the Republican-controlled Legislature — to prohibit lawmakers from intentionally drawing districts that favor incumbents or political parties.

The new rules not only created new standards but forced a trial that revealed that the once-a-decade process of redrawing political boundaries that had been touted by legislators as “historic” and “transparent” was clouded in secrecy.

However:

The debate also brought to the surface the racial tensions that coursed for years beneath the surface in Florida’s redistricting battle.

Lawyers for the Legislature and the NAACP argued that the plaintiff’s alternative map would divide black communities and perpetuate the racially polarized voting that in the past has prohibited African Americans from electing representatives of their choice.

The coalition’s map would have dismantled Brown’s district and replaced it with two districts designed to elect two African Americans to Congress. Their proposal creates a black majority district that stretches from Jacksonville to Tallahassee across North Florida and another that shift’s Webster’s districts into a district that could favor a black Democrat.

[Zakalwe]

"Their proposal creates a black majority district that stretches from Jacksonville to Tallahassee across North Florida "

This part is insane. Jax and Tally have entirely different needs and have no business having the same US Representative.

Hell, as much as I like Gwen Graham (and I do), she was elected by winning only Leon County (home to Tallahassee). Why? Because there’s a sharp difference between Tallahassee (as the only metro area between Pensacola and Jax) and the entire rest of the Panhandle. Unfortunately, Tally is not quite big enough (or too Democratic) to merit it’s own Rep.

[BrainGlutton]

I wonder how all this will affect the state-legislature districts?

[BrainGlutton]

GOP officials sue Florida: Laws against gerrymandering are ‘thought policing’ our ‘partisan thoughts’.

[Terr]

Corrine Brown seeks to stop redistricting in court, says it dilutes minority voting