Posted on 08/22/2014 11:33:15 PM PDT by Steelfish
Florida Judge Deals a Blow to Democrats on Districting By LIZETTE ALVAREZ AUG. 22, 2014
MIAMI — In a blow to Florida Democrats, a state judge on Friday approved a slightly modified congressional map drawn by the Republican-dominated Legislature and decided that the 2014 election could proceed under the old map, which he had ruled unconstitutional.
Two days after a sharply partisan hearing on the new map, Terry P. Lewis, a state judge in Leon County, concluded that the rejiggered boundaries for seven districts, while not perfect, “sufficiently” addressed his constitutional concerns.
A coalition of Democratic-leaning voter rights groups had asked Judge Lewis to reject the map because it did little to change the existing boundaries. They asked him to consider their alternative, which took an entirely different approach.
But Judge Lewis disagreed. He ruled that the Legislature is not required “to produce a map that the plaintiffs, or I, or anyone else might prefer.” He continued: “The Legislature is only required to produce a map that meets the requirements of the constitution. My ‘duty’ is not to select the best plan, but rather to decide whether the one adopted by the Legislature is valid.”
David King, a lawyer for the coalition led by the League of Women Voters of Florida, said in a statement that the group planned to appeal the ruling. The coalition had also sought to delay the 2014 primary and general election in the affected districts until a new map could be put in place, arguing that voters should not be forced to cast ballots based on an illegal map. The judge rebuffed that request.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Good to see that the League of Women Voters is as non-partisan as I remember.
I have a bad feeling the SCOFLA will step in and overrule this judge as they did in 2000 - the law is irrelevant to the SCOFLA.
Lewis was the only judge in the 2000 Florida recount who did not tow the Democrat line. He seemed somewhat fair.
This article from 2000 us an interesting read:
My ‘duty’ is not to select the best plan, but rather to decide whether the one adopted by the Legislature is valid.” and constitutional.
OMG.....finally we have a judge who understands his role. Unlike our current Supreme Court who likes to rewrite legislation to their desires. I will be sooooo happy when if we could ever get a high court to understand that they rule only on the constitutionality of legislation and send it back to the legislature for correction if it doesn’t.
You are exactly right. I still love his comment from the bench affirming the actions of one poll worker, “You are a great American.” Surprised the Times didn’t remind readers that this judge didn’t live up to their expectations in the recount.
Damn...a judge that actually knows what the constitution says and follows it...who’d a thought!!!
It won’t matter what is decided. They’ll take this to the highest court they can in Florida before the election. Then they’ll challenge the results in court. Then they’ll attack the legislative side.
And on and on until they get what they want,
*kind* of a big deal, because IIRC, Leon County is the only Deeply Demon Rat county in the northern part of the state.
If a Leon County judge has shut down the ‘rats, it is worth noting.
How very strange, a Judge who adheres to the constitution!
Completely different makeup of SCOFLA now!
Well I live in the fifth Congressional District which is one of the major ones that was re-drawn. It is the District that Corrine Brown, a member of the Black Caucus and ardent liberal windbag is elected in because the district heavily favored her to win while giving more GOP regristrants in surrounding district. What nobody has said and I guess I have to go down to registrar and see what the new registration ratio is. The old one was over 60% dem and the district runs from inner core of Jacksonville 150 miles to urban core of Orlando. That was changed by bringing in larger parts of Putnam County which being interior I would assume migh have a higher GOP representative.
I hope that means there is a fair chance in this district to be represented by someone other than a flaming liberal.
Oh well...Both parties are corrupt in Florida like most other states. So we shall see
Freegards
LEX
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