A Florida appeals court heard arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of the state’s currently enacted congressional maps.
The congressional map, pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), eliminated a majority black northern district that favored Democrats, which opponents of the plan claim violated the state’s Fair Districts Amendments. The current case is an appeal of a ruling by Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh, which stated that the congressional map was unconstitutional because it violated the Fair Districts Amendment by not allowing black voters “to elect their candidates of choice.”
GRANITE STATE GAFFE: DEMOCRATS PUSH BIDEN WRITE-IN EFFORT IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
Florida Solicitor General Henry Whitaker argued the current map is “race-neutral” rather than being unconstitutionally gerrymandered to create a district as the former black majority district did. Jyoti Jasrasaria, an attorney for the plaintiffs in the case, argued that the map does not comply with the Florida Constitution and that it went against prior state Supreme Court precedent.
Judges on the 1st District Court of Appeal were skeptical of the challenges to the map. Judge Adam Tanenbaum questioned why the state Supreme Court decision, which established the prior black majority district in 2015 and had been a point of argument for the plaintiffs, should not be challenged.
“It’s acting in a political capacity when it’s drawing a district, which is the same with what the legislature typically would do,” Tanenbaum said during the hearing on Tuesday. “So why isn’t it fair to question what the Supreme Court did when it was enacting, or approving the enactment, of [a] court-drawn set of districts?”
Judge Brad Thomas also questioned the 2015 high court ruling, saying it was a “bizarrely drawn district enacted by the Florida Supreme Court, imposed on the legislature, to remedy partisan gerrymandering.”
The contested map was passed by the Florida legislature in April 2022 after DeSantis had vetoed a previous map that included a form of the former black majority district in the northern part of the state. The map championed by DeSantis saw the GOP go from a 16-11 advantage to the current 20-8 advantage. If a form of the black majority district is mandated in a new map by a court, it would likely net Democrats at least one seat.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
There is no timetable for when the court will decide on the case, but both parties said in a joint stipulation last month that they would prefer a ruling by Nov. 22.
“A ruling by November 22 will also provide time for either party to seek Florida Supreme Court review and for the Florida Supreme Court to render a decision in time for the Legislature to take up any remedial plan, if necessary, during the 2024 regular legislative session, and before the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment on March 8, 2024,” the stipulation said.
