Tampa Bay News: Justices seek input on how to handle new redistricting rules

[Patricia M. McBride]

Because of the new redistricting laws plus the civil rights laws, our maps may end up doing the very thing the new laws were meant to stop them from doing.................and many voted thinking the laws would get rid of gerrymandered districts only to find out they are put in first and then, the new laws are applied with minor adjustments where required!  I had written to the chair of the reapportionment committee about the gerrymandered districts and a response came back about how and why it was handled the way it was..................and why they did not favor the new laws because it adds to an already difficult process.  Interesting.

 

March 1, 2012

TALLAHASSEE — Faced with writing a precedent-setting ruling that could shape the state's political lines for decades, the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday aggressively grilled lawyers representing Democrats and Republicans, asking them how to interpret the state's new redistricting rules.

"We need help,'' said Justice Barbara Pariente, who dominated questioning during the three-hour hearing on the Legislature's reapportionment plans.

The court has until March 9 to decide if the maps comply with the Fair Districts anti-gerrymandering standards approved by voters in 2010. It has three options:

• Send the maps back to the Legislature to try again.

• Validate the maps as compliant.

• Validate the maps, but acknowledge that a lawsuit could be brought through the trial court to sort out flaws.

"You are the ultimate authority,'' said Jon Mills, a University of Florida law professor and former House speaker arguing for the Florida Democratic Party. The Legislature's interpretation "may be interesting but your interpretation is binding."

Read more here:  http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/article1217663.ece