Jim Rosica
In a one-sentence decision, the Florida Supreme Court has shot down the House of Representatives’ plea to allow “discovery” in the ongoing congressional redistricting challenge.
“The Florida House of Representatives’ Motion for Reconsideration, filed September 17, 2015, is hereby denied,” it said.
The House’s motion was for the court to reconsider its decision not to allow discovery, or pre-trial inquiry of the other sides’ evidence, before a final hearing that kicks off later this week.
Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente, James E.C. Perry and Peggy Ann Quince all concurred.
The court’s conservative minority, Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston, would have granted the request.
As of Tuesday morning, Circuit Judge Terry Lewis was still on track to begin a final hearing in the case on Thursday. The justices had not allowed discovery previously because of the tight timeframe.
The House wanted to inquire deeper into the plaintiffs’ proposed after disclosures they were drawn with the help of “staff members from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.”
There are two groups of plaintiffs: A group of Democratic-leaning voters and The League of Women Voters of Florida with Common Cause.
The ongoing case follows the Supreme Court’s holding that current districts were gerrymandered against the state constitution; that is, they were drawn to benefit Republican candidates.
In one court filing, House lawyers made a “goose and gander” argument: “Neither political party holds a monopoly on gerrymandering … The Constitution applies to both parties’ efforts to manipulate the political process and prohibits the efforts of the Democratic Party to infiltrate and influence redistricting and to shape the State’s congressional districts.”
Lewis eventually will have to pick a map or put together parts of different maps to come up with a final version that will be approved by the Supreme Court. The court put a deadline of Oct. 17 for the matter to wrapped up.
