Posted on 02/10/2024 7:47:07 AM PST by CFW
TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge reluctantly closed the door on allegations that key parts of a 2021 Florida elections law were unconstitutional after an appeal court overruled him on the issue.
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued an order after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year overturned a ruling in which he found the law improperly discriminated against Black voters. The Atlanta-based appeals court sent the case back to Walker to address two major issues.
Walker, in his order Thursday, criticized the appeals court for “reweighing” facts in the case. But he entered a judgment in favor of the state, concluding that plaintiffs had not met a legal test for showing that the changes in the law “unduly burden” First Amendment and equal-protection rights.
“As this court previously found after a lengthy, two-week bench trial, the state of Florida has, with surgical precision, repeatedly changed Florida’s election code to target whichever modality of voting Florida’s Black voters were using at the time,” Walker wrote. “That was not this court’s opinion — it is a fact established by the record in these cases. Even so, following the state of Florida’s appeal, this persistent and pernicious practice of targeting the modalities of voting most used by Florida’s Black voters has apparently received the stamp of approval in this (11th) Circuit.”
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
paywall free article below:
Federal judge grudgingly rules for DeSantis in elections law challenge
Maybe he finally put his brains in gear. . . .
We need more of this at the national level.
the state of Florida has, with surgical precision, repeatedly changed Florida’s election code to target whichever modality of vote fraud Florida’s Democrat voters were using at the time,
Fixed it.
The judge is tired of DeSantis putting his medium sized gubernatorial boot on the rear side of His Honor's robe.
That is one butt-hurt judge. Love to see that!
Angry Obama stooge Mark Walker is angry.
Judge Walker comes off like a spoiled brat. The Appeals Court reviews the law and decides accordingly.
The 11th Circuit basically said to the lower Court, “thanks for your lengthy bench trial. But given the law at issue here and the Constitution, the facts here are irrelevant. Florida’s law is Constitutional.”
In other words, Judge Walker could have saved himself some time and granted Florida’s summary judgement motion. Instead, Walker did what leftist Judges do. He didn’t like the fact that the law was Constitutional so he held a trial to try and muddy the waters with “facts.” And he decided here (bench trial) what the “facts” are. The 11th Circuit saw right through it.
Part of why I was supporting Desantis is he wins-the policies stick and don’t wind up as “we tried” or rallying cries but actually effective
100% team trump now but at some time in the future DeSantis could likely tear the embedded bureaucracy apart
He can't do that because he's sitting on them ...
I still see DeSantis and Trump working closely together THIS year and beyond to good effect, after putting bad blood behind them. And the Dems should be worried about the effects of that upcoming collaboration. Abbot and Paxton in Texas partnering with them too.
Funny, I hadn’t realized there was a separate method of voting exclusively for black voters. Perhaps the judge should have correctly recognized that the Democrats are the ones who keep introducing shady voting practices and the State of Florida won’t capitulate.
Desantis has a red legislature and no corruot intelligence community working 24/7 to undermine him.
Frankly, I think he was encouraged to run in 24 in order to cripple him for 28.
Had he’d stayed out, he could have been a contender, now he’s an also ran.
Trump’s court picks are still with us. That was his major, undoable win.
LOL!
‘Funny, I hadn’t realized there was a separate method of voting exclusively for black voters. Perhaps the judge should have correctly recognized that the Democrats are the ones who keep introducing shady voting practices and the State of Florida won’t capitulate.”
Precisely. The judge though blacks should have their own and separate voting procedures. All designed to give more weight to their voting bloc of course.
It should become a normal practice to impeach a judge who is repeatedly overturned by superior courts. Regularly misapplying the law and incompetence should clear any threshold for Congress.
Walker must of thrown up after he did this
He is a liberal rat
District court judges openly criticizing Appellate judges is generally frowned upon in legal circles.
This decision directly affects me because I live in a little sliver of land that they used to connect two major black population centers. Di Santis and state GOP changed the boundaries and I now have a GOP predominate district! Hopefully that remains so that I feel like I HAVE a voice! Altho in days of uniparty which of us actually does! Ha!
LEX
........thanks for the excellent summary. I was wondering what the hell was REALLY going on!
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