Florida congressional districts that eliminated a majority-Black seat upheld by state Supreme Court

Florida s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the state s current congressional redistricting map rejecting a challenge over the elimination of a majority-Black district in north Florida that was pushed by Republican Gov Ron DeSantis The court dominated by DeSantis appointees ruled that restoration of the district that previously united Black communities from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee or across miles kilometers would amount to impermissible racial gerrymandering That the majority ruled violates the Constitution s equal protection guarantees 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 noted Chief Justice Carlos Muniz in the court s majority opinion The decision means Florida s current congressional districts that give Republicans a - advantage over Democrats will remain in place for the midterm elections and beyond The former north Florida district was majority of in the last few days represented by a Black Democrat former Rep Al Lawson The new districts divide that area among three Republicans A panel of three federal judges previously upheld the current congressional districts This was constantly the constitutionally correct map and now both the federal courts and the FL Supreme Court have upheld it DeSantis stated on X One of the plaintiffs the National Redistricting Foundation called the new ruling alarming because it diminishes the voting power of Black Floridians by upholding the GOP-drawn map The court is abandoning the majority of basic role of the judiciary to provide justice for the people stated Marina Jenkins executive director of the foundation Earlier redistricting efforts by the state Legislature included versions of the north Florida district that preserved Black voting power But after a veto by DeSantis the governor pushed through the current map that eliminated it In its ruling the Supreme Court mentioned one difficulty for the plaintiffs was they did not propose a viable alternative map but only pointed out probable problems with the current one 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 explained Justice Jorge Labarga was the lone dissenter contending the lawsuit should be sent back to a lower court for further proceedings to allow the challengers a chance to produce different districts By foreclosing further litigation the majority s decision now allows to remain in place a congressional redistricting plan that is unconstitutional under the Florida Constitution Labarga wrote