Supreme Court tosses proposed Senate maps

Source: Tampa Bay Times

TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court on Friday tossed out the proposed state Senate legislative maps, forcing lawmakers to start over in a special session later this month.

In an extraordinarily thorough 234-page opinion, the court voted 7-0 to validate the House maps, and rejected the Senate maps 5-2. The court defined the terms of the new anti-gerrymandering directive of voters and called out the Senate for being the worst violator, ruling eight districts as invalid. See the maps at tampabay.com/redistricting.

"We conclude that the challengers have demonstrated that the Senate plan, but not the House plan, violates the constitutional requirements. We therefore declare the Senate plan constitutionally invalid and the House plan constitutionally valid,'' the court wrote for the majority in an opinion written by Justice Barbara Pariente.

--snip---
The voter-approved rules establish three landmark standards that legislators must follow when they do the once-a-decade redistricting process. They prohibit lawmakers from intentionally protecting incumbents and political parties; require them to preserve minority voting rights; and, order them to draw compact districts where possible.

Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/workinglife/article1219161.ece