GOP consultant says ‘integrity’ of court is at stake over redistricting

GOP consultant says ‘integrity’ of court is at stake over redistricting
By Mary Ellen Klas -
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

09/19/2014 6:52 PM
| Updated: 09/19/2014 8:29 PM

TALLAHASSEE —

One of Florida’s top Republican political consultants stopped short　of accusing the state Supreme Court of lacking “integrity” Friday if it rules that he must disclose emails in a case brought under the state’s new anti-gerrymandering laws.

Pat Bainter, whose firm Data Targeting has battled for two years to keep the documents private in a lengthy legal battle over the state’s redistricting maps, argued on Friday that the release of his emails violates his First Amendment right to anonymous political speech.

But after the justices — who have had access to the documents — raised doubts about Bainter’s argument, he issued a blistering statement.

“Today’s Supreme Court hearing is the culmination of a legal assault and press sensationalism as to whether or not I, a private citizen, have the right to petition my government without fear of a political inquisition into my private matters,” he wrote after the oral arguments. “After today’s hearing, it is clear to me that, as interpreted by the Florida Supreme Court, Amendments 5 & 6 are unconstitutional because they criminalize political speech based upon its content.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article2172663.html#storylink=cpy