Florida Supreme Court tosses proposed Senate (redistricting) maps

[seafan]

Source: Tampa Bay Times (formerly St. Petersburg Times)

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court on Friday tossed out the proposed state Senate legislative maps, forcing lawmakers to start over in a special session later this month.

In an extraordinarily thorough 234-page opinion, the court voted 7-0 to validate the House maps, and rejected the Senate maps 5-2. The court defined the terms of the new anti-gerrymandering directive of voters and called out the Senate for being the worst violator, ruling eight districts as invalid.

"We conclude that the challengers have demonstrated that the Senate plan, but not the House plan, violates the constitutional requirements. We therefore declare the Senate plan constitutionally invalid and the House plan constitutionally valid,'' the court wrote for the majority in an opinion written by Justice Barbara Pariente.

.....

The Legislature's maps have been challenged by the Florida Democratic Party, the League of Women Voters, the National Council of La Raza and Common Cause of Florida. They have argued the new districts violate the amendments passed in 2010 because they were drawn with the intent to protect the Republican majorities of the House and Senate and unfairly pack minorities into districts on the pretense of protecting minority voting strength.

Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/workinglife/article1219161.ece

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Great news hot off the wire!


Governor Rick Scott is now compelled 'to call a special session devoted exclusively to redistricting within five days'. The more scrutiny of what these Jeb Bush era conservatives cynically crafted to solidify their grip on power, the better for the the return of fair representation for the people of Florida.


Today is the final day of the 2012 Florida Legislative session; hold the phone, because these people aren't going home today after all.


I'll bet Jeb's man Senator John Thrasher is fit to be tied.