The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear a challenge to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) gerrymandered congressional maps for now, meaning that the maps will likely be in place for this year’s congressional elections.
So Ohio, Florida, and Texas can legally gerrymander but New York state can’t per their state court. Interesting times…
Precedent don’t mean anything, but SCOTUS has already said that gerrymandering that denies minorities the vote, is a no-no to them.
So if Florida’s Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction over a gerrymandered map, then who does? It sounds like the court is taking a dive.
Well, it’s not denying minorities the vote, it’s just making sure that members of a minority don’t get elected, so that will probably be kosher for the SCOTUS, specially for self-hating-every-time-he-looks at-the-mirror Uncle Thomas.
It’s a no-no under the Voting Rights Act, which SCOTUS is always looking for an excuse to eviscerate further. That said, the current Florida case does not present any issues of federal law, just the state’s anti-gerrymandering constitutional provision. Someone would have to file a VRA case in federal court for SCOTUS to ever take it up, and why would anyone want to risk that?
The court was following state law.
It’s not entirely the state assembly’s fault, but either that law is followed or it isn’t.
Re: Ohio,
Their high court has already addressed this. That they haven’t hit the governor with a penalty is on them.
The state court of appeals, where it is already pending. I don’t know if Florida law even allows cases to skip past the intermediate appellate court.
Though I did, there’s a chance that someone will file in federal court.
Which goes back to what you said about SCOTUS wanting to finish the VRA off.
You don’t say…
This is a little different. The Florida constitution says who must draw up the map. And they did. DeathSentence said “nope, use mine instead”. And they did. So, in addition to the minority voter disenfranchisement, they also violated the state constitution.
The disenfranchisement piece is also constitutional, and there is no claim being asserted – because it would be frivolous – that the legislature passing DeSantis’s preferred map doesn’t fulfill the legislature’s duty to draw the map. It’s no different than using outsider consultants to draw up a proposed map.
ETA: So long as the legislature passes it too, of course.
And WTF minorities are whining about, more minorities elected means more Democrats, and they will force them to wear masks get the vax and will take away their guns, all things that DiSantis has been protecting them from .
The courts are corrupt.
Dog bless you for undertaking the painful task of explaining to laymen how appellate jurisdictional decisions aren’t merits decisions. I saw the basis, saw the comments and then, having had to deal with interlocutory appeal issues in three appellate cases in a row, was like “oh, god I just can’t today.”
Funny how it works out to benefit Republicans every single time. Oh wait…
I know me some appellate jurisdiction things, albeit not with any specificity as to Florida. Currently sitting on a pending case with an intermediate court split that ought to get me to SCOTX on a really clean legal issue.