Florida Judge Throws Out DeSantis-Backed Congressional Map, Rules In Favor of Civil Rights Groups

A judge in Florida ruled in favor of civil rights groups on Saturday, throwing out a congressional district map that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis had backed and deeming it unconstitutional.

The ruling, which is likely to be appealed, delivered another redistricting win for Democrats in the Southeast after a series of cases in the region have given the party more opportunities to flip Republican-controlled House seats ahead of what will be a contentious fight for control of the legislative chamber next year.

The Florida case hinged on claims that Florida lawmakers violated a provision of the state constitution protecting minority-access districts in 2022 when they diluted the Black vote in one Northern Florida district by dividing it into four different districts.

Civil rights groups served as the plaintiffs in this case, who argued that the proposed redistricting violated the constitution. The state, serving as the defendants, was then put in the position of arguing that state constitution violates the federal constitution, so the state constitution's provision isn't enforceable.

“It's a little bit weird for a state to be challenging its own constitution in state court,” Michael Li, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, previously told The Messenger. The constitutional amendments in question were passed by voters more than a decade ago, Li noted, as part of an effort to prevent lawmakers from drawing gerrymandered congressional maps.

“The state doesn't quite like what it requires them to do,” he said earlier this week, referring to the constitutional amendments, known as the Fair Districts Amendments. “So they're alleging that they can't do what the Constitution requires them to do without violating the U.S. Constitution.”

Circuit Judge Lee Marsh said in his ruling that the state did not prove their case and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs.

“By dismantling a congressional district that enabled Black voters to elect their candidates of choice under the previous plan, the Enacted Plan violates Article III, Section 20(a) of the Florida Constitution,” Marsh wrote, refuting the state’s claim constitutional claim. “This Court will declare the enacted map unconstitutional and enjoin the Secretary of State from using that map in future congressional elections. This Court will return the matter to the Legislature to enact a new map which complies with the Florida Constitution.”

Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder of Equal Ground Education Fund, one of the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the decision as proof that “voters should be empowered to pick their leaders, not the other way around.”

"Today’s ruling reinforces the fact that Gov. DeSantis forced a compliant Legislature to adopt a gerrymandered congressional map that diminished minority representation, disenfranchised voters, and clearly violated the Fair District Amendments," said Burney-Clark. "Floridians must not forget this racially motivated assault on our democracy. Our coalition will never waver in our continuing efforts to protect the voting rights of all Floridians."

Similarly, Olivia Mendoza, the director of litigation and policy for the National Redistricting Foundation called the ruling "a significant victory in the fight for fair representation for Black Floridians."

"As a result, the current discriminatory map should be replaced with a map that restores the Fifth Congressional District in a manner that gives Black voters the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice," her statement continued.

Mendoza also called out DeSantis, "It should not be lost on the public that Governor DeSantis pushed for the discriminatory map that targeted Black voters with precision. But when the people tenaciously fought back in court to protect their rights, justice prevailed."

The path to this lawsuit was convoluted and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, now a Republican presidential candidate, was at the center of the debate.

The Coliseum polling precinct on November 8, 2022 in St. Petersburg, Florida. Octavio Jones / Getty Images

Florida, because of its growing population, gained a congressional district in 2020’s redistricting. The first proposal for new maps by state Republicans kept Northern Florida’s 5th District — a majority-Black district that had been represented by Rep. Al Lawson, a Black Democrat, since 2017 — intact. But after DeSantis protested the plan, state Republicans proposed a new map that nixed Lawson’s district and put the areas once represented by the Democrat into districts now entirely represented by Republicans.

DeSantis approved that new congressional map in April 2022, after a controversial vote in the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives that saw Democratic lawmakers protest on the floor of the legislative body.

Lawson then chose to run in the newly created Florida 2nd Congressional district — a district that was overwhelmingly white — and lost in the general election to Republican Rep. Neal Dunn.

A deal between both sides of the case, which primarily shrunk the scope of the case from multiple districts to only Lawson’s old district, also allowed for a speedier appeal than normal, raising the likelihood that an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court would happen. Andy Bardos, a lawyer representing the Republican-controlled Florida House of Representatives, a defendant in the case, did not respond to The Messenger on Saturday when asked if the state planned to appeal.

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a separate redistricting case out of Alabama, Allen v. Milligan. In that case, the court found that the Alabama state legislature discriminated against minority voters when it drew its last congressional map, and set a precedent for several other cases playing out in lower courts across the country, including in places like Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas. The ruling from the nation’s highest court also teed up Democrats to potentially win additional seats in states that are largely considered Republican strongholds.

That could make all the difference in the battle for the House in 2024, given Republicans currently hold a narrow 5-seat margin in the legislative chamber.

The ruling is also a loss for DeSantis, who is currently running for president.

DeSantis defended his map in 2022, despite fervent protests against the plan.

"We are not going to have a 200-mile gerrymander that divvies up people based on the color of their skin. That is wrong," the governor said at the time.