Times Union: Florida attorney general wants Corrine Brown's lawsuit tossed out

[Patricia M. McBride]

I think most of the folks who voted for the new districting laws wanted rid of gerrymandering which Ms Brown wants to keep, so the lawsuit does seem to be in the cross hairs of the will of the people.

The suit opposes a state redistricting amendment passed last fall.

Posted: January 14, 2011 - 6:46am

 

By KATHLEEN HAUGHNEY

The News Service of Florida

TALLAHASSEE — Attorney General Pam Bondi has asked a federal court to dismiss a case filed by Jacksonville's U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown that attempts to strike down a recently passed amendment to the Florida Constitution changing the way congressional districts are drawn.

Bondi, a Republican, filed the motion in the federal Southern District Court this week, arguing that the court does not have jurisdiction over the case filed by Brown, a Democrat, and Miami Republican U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart. Amendment 6 prevents lawmakers from drawing districts that favor themselves or political parties and was passed last fall by Florida voters.

The new amendment would require congressional districts — set to be redrawn in time for the 2012 elections — to basically take the gerrymandering out of the process, requiring lawmakers to draw more regular, compact districts that try to follow traditional map boundaries, rather than drawing odd-shaped districts meant to help incumbents or the party drawing them.

A separate constitutional amendment voters also approved, Amendment 5, outlines the same requirements for state legislative districts.

Brown and Diaz-Balart filed the suit to scuttle Amendment 6, which passed with 63 percent of the vote, the day after Election Day, arguing that it violated federal election law guaranteeing equal access for minority candidates. Some districts have essentially been gerrymandered to guarantee the election of a minority.

Bondi, in her filing, said that the Southern District Court should dismiss the case because Brown and Diaz-Balart didn't file it in the right court. The court that covers Washington, D.C., hears cases dealing with congressional districts, she said.

A spokeswoman for Bondi could not be reached for comment on whether the new attorney general will continue to defend the new constitutional requirement, which many members of her political party tried to defeat over the past year, if it is moved to the court she says should hear it.

 

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2011-01-14/story/florida-attor...