Tallahassee, FL - The Florida Supreme Court responds to Governor Ron DeSantis and says they’re not going to weigh in on the constitutionality of redistricting a congressional district that links black neighborhoods in North Florida.
An advisory opinion published on Friday (Feb. 10) said the court’s opinion is generally limited to narrow questions, while the request from DeSantis “is broad and contains multiple questions that implicate complex federal and state constitutional matters and precedents interpreting the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
The opinion further stated that in the past the constitutionality of a final redistricting bill will most likely be discussed at some point through subsequent challenges in court. DeSantis’ request would also require “fact-intensive” analysis and consideration of the state’s other congressional districts, not just the district in question: District 5, represent by Al Lawson.
In his letter to the Supreme Court, DeSantis asked whether or not a part of Article III in the state’s constitution—specifically the section that deals with the standards for establishing congressional district boundaries—required the state to retain District 5, which connects a minority population in Jacksonville with other minority populations on the other side of the state.
“The district stretches over 200 miles from East to West across eight counties without conforming to usual political or geographic boundaries, solely to connect a minority population center in Jacksonville with a separate and distinct minority population center in Leon and Gadsden Counties so that, together, these minority populations may elect a candidate of their choice,” wrote DeSantis in his request to the court.
DeSantis also focused on the state Constitution’s non-diminishment standard that prohibits districts from being drawn in a way that limits the ability of voters to elect the candidates they want.
“Specifically, I ask whether the (standard) mandates a sprawling congressional district in northern Florida that stretches hundreds of miles from East to West solely to connect black voters in Jacksonville with black voters in Gadsden and Leon Counties (with few in between) so that they may elect candidates of their choice, even without a majority.”
The court also requested a number of briefs from “interested persons” addressing whether or not DeSantis’ request was within the purview of another article of the Florida Constitution that deals with the governor requesting opinions from the court on “any question affecting the governor’s executive powers and duties.”
The interested persons argued that the court does not have jurisdiction to render an opinion under the circumstances lined out in DeSantis’ request.
“We need not make that determination because assuming the Court has jurisdiction, which we do not decide, we exercise our discretion to deny the request for an advisory opinion,” said the court.
If Governor DeSantis was to get his wish with District 5, it would likely stand to oust Democrat Al Lawson from Congress, turning a solidly blue district into one which leans more red. Intentionally gerrymandering a congressional district would be a violation of Florida’s state constitution, but proving intent is tricky to do when it comes to drawing district boundaries.
The state Supreme Court declined to take a stance on whether the district as proposed by DeSantis was compliant with the state constitution. They specifically cited the Voting Rights Act of 1965, stating that a formal ruling on the matter would require extensive interpretation of a federal statute.
Originally passed to outlaw racial discrimination in places of voting, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been gradually weathered over time by subsequent court decisions. Its relevance to Florida’s current redistricting effort would in essence be whether separating black communities into separate, less potent voting blocks would serve to disenfranchise them.
To Lawson, DeSantis’s efforts are intentionally racial in nature. “While disappointing, Ron DeSantis’s continued assault on the rights of Black and minority voters is not a surprise. I hope that the Florida Supreme Court chooses to respect our separation of powers, rises above politics, and avoids wading into this partisan dispute,” he said. “Ron DeSantis’s effort to disenfranchise every minority voter north of Orlando is an act that will not go without a fight.”
Justices Ricky Polston, Jorge Labarga, Carlos Muñiz, John Couriel, and Jamie Groshands all concurred with the opinion, while Chief Justice Charles Canady and Alan Lawson recused themselves.
News Daytona Beach's Sean Mooney and Chris Gollon both contibuted to this report.
