Judge issues formal order to rewrite Gov. DeSantis’ congressional map with different North Florida lines

A judge formally issued an order calling for a new congressional map to replace one signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. However, the state has already said an appeal of the initial ruling is coming.

Leon Circuit Court Judge Layne Smith in a court hearing on Wednesday agreed with those challenging the map and argue the cartography violates Florida’s Fair Districts amendment.

“Plaintiffs have shown a clear likelihood that the Enacted Plan violates their fundamental right to vote and ‘enjoining the enforcement of a law that encroaches on a fundamental constitutional right’ presumptively ‘would serve the public interest,’” Smith wrote.

The order keeps with the direction Smith offered at the hearing, and formally issuing a document sets into motion a certain appeals process.

A coalition of minority groups backed by former Attorney General Eric Holder filed a complaint in state courts last month saying the new map, among other concerns, diminishes the ability of Black voters to elect a congressional representative of their choice. Groups including Black Voters Matter, Equal Ground, and the League of Women Voters are represented by Democratic attorney Marc Elias’ firm, among others.

Elias’ Democracy Docket group released Smith’s order on its website.

“We are thrilled that the Court sided with our clients today by finding the DeSantis Plan unconstitutional and in violation of the Fair Districts Amendment,” said Elias Law Group attorney Christina Ford. “This ruling will help protect the ability of Black voters in North Florida to elect the candidates of their choice. Floridians deserve to vote in fair and lawful districts.”

With the state Primary scheduled for Aug. 23 and the qualification period for congressional candidates beginning June 13, plaintiffs argued in court that running midterms under the new lines would cause voters irreversible harm.

With the limited time frame, attorneys argued this week for Smith to issue an injunction, but asked only for him to take actions in North Florida. That’s where the DeSantis map dismantles the previous configuration of Florida’s 5th Congressional District, represented now by Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson. Critics of the map say that spreads almost 370,000 Black Floridians who now make up 49% of that congressional district and puts them in North Florida jurisdictions with between 12% and 25% Black makeup.

The judge agreed with that argument, and ordered an alternative map submitted by Harvard professor Stephen Ansolabehere be implemented instead. That will only impact five seats, Florida’s 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th Congressional Districts. Those will take a shape as they appeared on a fallback map (H 8015) passed by the Legislature but ultimately vetoed by DeSantis.

That map leaves most of the DeSantis map (P 0109) in place but reconfigures the North Florida area. That means keeping a district closely analogous to the one represented by Lawson now that stretched from Tallahassee to Jacksonville, hugging the state’s northern border and covering Gadsden County, Florida’s only majority Black county.

With the order filed, attorneys for the state have promised to promptly appeal the decision. That should automatically trigger a stay, meaning Smith’s decision would go on hold, and Smith said in a hearing he will consider whether to vacate the stay. Regardless, the judge stressed the object is to move the case along as quickly as possible.

“As Judge Smith implied, these complex constitutional matters of law were always going to be decided at the appellate level,” said DeSantis spokesperson Taryn Fenske. “We will undoubtedly be appealing his ruling and are confident the constitutional map enacted by the Florida Legislature and signed into law passes legal muster. We look forward to defending it.”

The bottom line is the matter still most likely will be heard again shortly. Either an appellate panel hears the case or it will be forwarded directly to the Florida Supreme Court.

Attorneys for the state have adopted DeSantis’ argument for vetoing the Legislature’s maps. The Governor has argued Lawson’s district was drawn with race as the primary motivating factor, and that in doing so it violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Because the district, despite spanning over 200 miles, still falls short of being 50% minority, the state argues it likely won’t withstand strict scrutiny if it gets challenged on federal grounds.

The configuration, though, was first implemented by the Florida Supreme Court in 2015 when it tossed maps drawn passed by the Legislature in 2012. That ruling loomed large both for lawmakers, who considered it accepted law the district lines adhered with state law and constitutional requirements. Smith also signaled reluctance in the hearing this week to determine the state Supreme Court erred in its ruling just five years ago.

Since that ruling, DeSantis has appointed replacements for three of the state Supreme Court justices, leading some to predict the court may be willing to accept his arguments.

But his argument appears to run contrary to language about diminishing minority voting power that appears in the Florida Constitution, a dispute that ultimately may need to be settled by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Of course, attorneys for the state also argue that the diminishment standard doesn’t truly apply in the North Florida lines. The Legislature’s analysts considered the district a Black performing one because it leans Democratic and Black voters make up a majority of the primary electorate. Attorneys for the state argued in court that in fact, that only goes to show the seat was gerrymandered to favor Democrats, which violates a Fair Districts prohibition on cartography drawn to favor a political party.

The only matter courts will seek to settle before the midterms involves the lines in North Florida. While the lawsuit challenges the entire map, that will be dealt with in a full trial that could take years to unfold.

The map submitted by Ansolabehere includes 19 congressional districts where Republican Donald Trump won the 2020 Presidential Election and nine where Democrat Joe Biden prevailed. By comparison, the DeSantis map had 20 Trump seats. Trump won Florida by 3 percentage points.