TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A judge said on Wednesday that Florida's new congressional map, which was approved by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and drawn by his staff, is unconstitutional because it breaks up a district where Black voters can choose their representatives.
Leon County Circuit Judge Layne Smith said he would issue a preliminary injunction Thursday or Friday to keep the maps from taking effect in November’s election. He made it clear he would rule in favor of voting rights groups challenging the maps.
Smith said the Florida Supreme Court has already ruled that District 5 did not violate federal law as it was originally drawn. He also said there is little question that Black votes are diminished under the DeSantis-drawn map.
“The minority vote is small enough or lowered enough that you would expect it to be harder,” Judge Smith said.
While Judge Smith said he expects the state will appeal, he cannot order the legislature to reconvene, so he’s likely to suggest the remedy plan “A” submitted by the plaintiffs.
The remedy plan looks a lot like the original District 5 and is very similar to the legislature’s originally-passed map which had been vetoed by DeSantis. Smith said plan “A” would appear to cause the least amount of disruption for voting districts.
Lawyers for the state argued plaintiffs waited too long to file for an injunction and that it will put the affected county elections offices in a bind.
They also made the argument that Florida’s law creating a gerrymandered minority district conflicts with federal law under the equal protection act.
“The question you have to ask, Your Honor, is, is this compliant with the federal constitution?” Mohammad Omar Jazil said, who's representing the state.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs, a group of voting rights organizations, accused the state of intentionally dragging its feet.
The injunction is urgent, they said, due to its potential impact on the rapidly approaching 2022 midterm election and that the DeSantis map drastically reduces the will of Black voters by diluting it.
“It’s classic cracking. It’s classic cracking, Your Honor,” Attorney John Devaney said on behalf of the plaintiffs. “Let’s take that Black population, let’s split up into four districts where they don’t have any voting power.”
Judge Smith pointed out the original congressional District 5 map, as convoluted as it might appear, was drawn by the State Supreme Court itself in 2015 to meet Florida’s Fair District law.
“I’m not going to disagree with them with what they did or how they came about it or whether it passed muster,” Judge Smith said. “Because I believe that they had made that determination.”
Judge Smith’s order is a narrow ruling only addressing District 5.
The rest of the state’s new congressional district map is likely to also face a legal challenge, but that will take place in months ahead. Judge Smith says he fully expects the state will appeal his decision and likely seek an immediate stay.
Gov. DeSantis said he agrees it’s highly likely the state will appeal and that the map will ultimately pass legal muster.
The judge’s order is expected to be formally issued as early as Thursday. The attorneys representing the state will likely first file for a “stay," which if granted, would suspend the implementation of the preliminary injunction as they move forward with their appeal.
10 Tampa Bay received the following statement from DeSantis' Communications Director Taryn Fenske:
As Judge Smith implied, these complex constitutional matters of law were always going to be decided at the appellate level. 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.
Attorneys for the state previously said the plaintiffs want to revert to — in their words — a racially-gerrymandered map. That’s something DeSantis has argued violates federal law.
“We are not going to have a 200-mile gerrymander that divvies up people based upon the color of their skin. That is wrong,” the governor said recently. “That is not the way we’ve governed in the state of Florida.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.