Posted on 07/12/2014 2:06:48 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Last night a circuit court judge in Florida voided the state's congressional map, citing a "secret, organized campaign" by Republican operatives that "made a mockery of the Legislature's transparent and open process of redistricting." The ruling concluded that District 5, held by Democrat Corrine Brown, and District 10, held by Republican Dan Webster, will need to be redrawn. From a purely practical standpoint, this means redrawing any surrounding districts as well, and possibly many of the state's 27 districts overall. "If one or more districts do not meet constitutional muster, then the entire act is unconstitutional," Judge Terry Lewis wrote.
The ruling is something of a barn-burner, and well worth a read. Lewis opens it up with a quote from George Washington warning of "cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men" who will "subvert the power of the people" and "usurp for themselves the reins of government." Below, three big takeaways.
1. Half-measures won't solve the gerrymandering problem
In 2010, Florida voters attempted to fix the issue of partisan gerrymandering by passing two amendments to the Florida Constitution that became known as the Fair District amendments. The amendments limit -- but do not eliminate -- the state legislature's discretion in drawing district boundaries, by forbidding districts drawn "with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or incumbent."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
More DemoCrip schemes?
More than likely.
a hot one for you to ping out
Corrine Brown is the real mockery here.
Do we get Allen Wes back?
Should we feel outraged since the Fl GOP either helped or did nothing as Col Allen West was redistricted into a Dem district and lost as a result??!!
Oh hey same thought!
Feminazi welfare queen
Not at all. The whole redistricting process and boundaries were subverted by the Democrats and the Republicrats, or GOPe.
Two top tea party members, Allen West and Sandy Adams, that I know of were redistricted out of their seats because the GOPe wanted them gone. They also kept much of Brown’s district alone as well.
I was subscribed to the State’s redistricting site and everything seemed to be going well on true districts and then at the final draft everything went upside down and they rushed it through. I remember at the time that it looked like the Democrats took over the whole deal even though they were heavily in the minority.
This could very well have been the first salvo fired in the tea party vs. GOPe fight we are seeing exploding now. The GOPe of Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush mind you.
What are the odds this results in a net gain for the right?
I want Feminazi Corrinne Brown-turd gone
I’d like to see some judge finally order all lines to be made along actual countylines, and just dump this three-year-old kid line-drawing stuff. A district ought to consist of five lines maximum. This sixty-four line drawing stuff is totally bogus.
Reading the entire article, the writer’s assumptions are all upside down as well, especially on the analysis. It seems to me this writer wants Brown gone which shows she is even an embarrassment to him as well.
It is a very interesting read but the liberal bias of this reporter has him shooting off his feet in the process. He makes some typical assumptions that it was those Wascally Wepublicans who dreamed up this redistricting only because they are Republicans and still has to get a grasp on what the GOPe really is. But his biases will never let that shred of light enter into his pea-brain.
The bottom line is that we do need to have a do-over now that the GOPe persecution of conservatives and tea party inspired voters is in full view. Seems the Haley Barbour arrogance will cut off the rest of his nose to spite his face.
Allen West’s district was essentially taken away from him by essentially making him compete with another incumbent for the area he held for two years. Same thing happened to Sandy Adams, who would have been a star just as Trey Gowdy is now. She was fearless and very direct in committee hearings. She ended up being pitted against John Mica who is a long time incumbent as well.
For Florida, this has huge implications and i see no way they can have a redo before the mid-terms unless they fall back on one of the drafts that was far more logical. One thing for sure, it is going to royally screw up the GOPe, especially since so many other conservatives were voted into both houses of the Legislature in 2012. Maybe this whole GOPe debacle goes right along with trying to keep as many liberals around seeing the tidal wave coming from the Tea Party minded electorate at the time in 2011.
Such a district is a mockery. They always have been, always will be. It is shameful when the dems do it, shameful when the gop does it.
If I was the judge, I would tell these pieces of puke that if i don’t like the next map they bring, i will waffle-stamp the state, and they can only adjust lines on the grid to get the proper population. So each district will be a rectangle except for coastlines.
They would still try to weasel that as well. I hate politicians!
Yup. But they're getting so obvious and stupid that even DemoCrips are feeling embarrassed.
That’s (FL-5) a Voting Rights Act district in order to assure a Black Democrat wins the seat. It’s required by federal law.
“I’m shocked, shocked to find out gambling is going on at Rick’s”
You mean to tell me the party in charge organizes congressional districts to seek political advantage?
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