The Florida Supreme Court gave Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republicans in the state a major victory in a lawsuit over the state’s gerrymandered congressional districts. The court, dominated by DeSantis appointees, rejected a challenge over the elimination of a majority-Black district in the northern part of the state in a map redrawn by DeSantis in 2022.
The court acknowledged DeSantis’ map weakens Black voting power in the state. Yet it still ruled in a 5-1 decision that restoring the district would amount to racial gerrymandering and would violate the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
“The record leaves no doubt that such a district would be race-predominant. The record also gives us no reasonable basis to think that further litigation would uncover a potentially viable remedy,” Chief Justice Carlos Muniz said in the court’s majority opinion, according to PBS.
DeSantis dismantled the 5th Congressional District, which united Black voters in communities that stretched from Jacksonville to Tallahassee, in 2022. The seat was held by a Black representative for almost 30 years. Now the district is divided up among three Republicans.
The decision, according to The Associated Press, means the current districts, which give Republicans a 20 to 8 advantage over Democrats, will remain in place for next year’s midterms and beyond.
“This was always the constitutionally correct map — and now both the federal courts and the FL Supreme Court have upheld it,” DeSantis said on social media.
The National Redistricting Foundation, a plaintiff in the case, called the new ruling “alarming” because it “diminishes the voting power of Black Floridians” by upholding the GOP-drawn map, the AP reported.
“The court is abandoning the most basic role of the judiciary: to provide justice for the people,” the foundation’s executive director, Marina Jenkins, said.
Plenty of people agreed with the decision.
“Governor has anyone suggested you run for Governor in California or New York? They desperately need your help!” leta said on social media.
And Chris Nelson said, “Governor DeSantis was pressured from all sides to cave on this map. He was called a racist and told it would never be upheld in court. Well.. here we are.”
But many others were furious.
Strong words from this X user: “Fl GOP Cheats to win .. from gerrymandering to ghost candidates to suppressing ballot initiatives by We The People Really .. you’re a disgrace to the constitution.”
That reaction was posted above the answer to a question posed to X’s AI bot Grok.
“Did DeSantis gerrymander maps in 2022?”
Grok replied, “Yes.”
“DeSantis proposed a congressional map that significantly altered Florida’s 28 congressional districts, following the state’s gain of one seat due to population growth in the 2020 census. His map was enacted after he vetoed a less partisan map proposed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature, an unprecedented move that shifted redistricting power to the governor’s office,” Grok said in summing it up.
X user Eddie Mustafa pointed to the elephant in the room, “Who appointed the court?”
“Confirming that Florida will remain a GOP cesspool for the foreseeable future,” another X poster commented.
“You can only cheat for so long, Thigh Highs. Eventually the people will rise up against even your shadiest tricks,” still another said.
The court said its decision also was based on the fact that the plaintiffs offered no alternative map and only pointed out problems with the current map.
“It is not enough in the redistricting context for challengers to identify a flaw in an enacted districting plan and demand that the court send the Legislature back to the drawing board,” the decision said.
Great Job Shelby E. & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
