Florida Democrats may use the coming redrawing of state Senate districts to renew their court challenge to the proposed House redistricting map -- even though the state Supreme Court last week ruled the House plan valid.
Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith told reporters in a teleconference call Tuesday that the party is waiting for direction from their attorneys, as well as input from other opposition groups regarding the House map.
Over the weekend, I talked to my lawyers at length, Smith said. I had a conference call with them yesterday. Were just trying to decide what our next strategy will be. What our tactics will be to implement our strategy.
The court ruled on the "facial" validity of the claims made by the party and a coalition including the League of Women Voters of Florida, the National Council of La Raza, and Common Cause Florida. Smith said the party is looking at taking the map back to the court to considerspecifically how the lines were drawn in relation to the voter-approved Fair Districts amendments.
House leadership, which has praised its redistricting efforts, simply addressed the upcoming special session when asked to respond to Smiths comments. Senate leadership and the Republican Party of Florida didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Legislators return to the Capitol on Wednesday to begin an extraordinary special session to revise the Senate map, as the states top court ruled eight of the 40 Senate districts failed to meet the 2010 voter-approved Fair Districts amendments' requirements for compactness, districts that follow geographical boundaries where feasible andnot done to favor incumbents.
The Senate was also criticized by the court for limiting demographics to voting-age population -- instead of also considering registration numbers and past turnout -- to comply with minority requirements.
Smith also argued that the Senate, in anticipation that the congressional maps will also be rejected, is working to delay the ruling until after the November elections.
On Monday, the Senate filed a brief in Leon County Circuit Court asking that the review of the congressional map be delayed, claiming it is practically impossible to resolve this case in time for any remedy to be implemented for the impending elections.
Smith said the state cant hold elections for seats that are unconstitutional and simply redraw the lines after the winners take office.
The Supreme Courts decision ...proved that the Fair Districts amendments have real meaning and real teeth, and as such bodes well to the challenges to the congressional maps, he said. No one should be allowed to occupy a congressional seat which violates the Constitution of the state of Florida.
Smith believes the court will rule against the congressional map as the lines were drawn for the once-a-decade redistricting effort using many of the same standards that went into crafting the Senate map.
The state Supreme Court ruled last Friday that eight districts in the Senate map -- 1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 29, 30, and 34 -- failed to meet standards of the Fair Districts amendments and that the renumbering plan devised by the Senate could allow some currently sitting members to exceed the state constitutional term-limit requirements.
Smith said the Senate cannot just redraw the eight districts; they will have to change the entire map.
"An entire redrawing of the Senate map is necessary in order to comply with the courts unprecedented order,'' Smith said. "There is no such thing as tweaking the map."
The Democrats will submit their own map, which is expected to follow lines proposed during the session by the League of Women Voters.
Members of the Senate Reapportionment Committee will travel to Tallahassee for a single meeting this week to hear what the state Supreme Court found wrong with the Senates plan to redraw their boundary lines.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, released a schedule Monday for senators to respond to the court ruling..
Gov. Rick Scott has called for a 15-day session. Haridopolos plan features a 1 p.m. meeting on Wednesday, followed by directions for each senator to return to their district office.
The committee is scheduled to meet again on March 20, with the entire Senate expected to consider the revised plan on March 22 and March 23.
Dont expect to see House members spending much time in the Capitol during the session.
The House Reapportionment Committee is also scheduled to meet on Wednesday. However, House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, has advised members to be ready to return to Tallahassee when a joint resolution is ready, [which] most likely will be near the end of the special session's 15-day scheduled running time.
The following are the Supreme Court's rulings on districts challenged by the League of Women Voters of Florida, the National Council of La Raza, and Common Cause Florida or by the Florida Democratic Party:
Northwest Florida: Senate Districts 1 and 3
Although the Senates stated motivation was a desire to keep coastal communities together and separate from rural communities, it is also significant that District 1 keeps 86.1 percent of its predecessor district (old District 4, Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville), and District 3 keeps 82.6 percent of its predecessor district (old District 2, Sen. Greg Evers, R-Crestview). Both of these percentages are far greater than the average for the Senate plan (64.2 percent). Because there is no constitutionally valid justification for the deviation from the constitutional standards, we are obligated to declare these districts invalid.
Northeast Florida: Senate Districts 6 and 9
Based on the objective data before this court, we conclude that District 6 violates constitutional mandates by sacrificing compactness and utilizing boundaries when not necessary to do so to avoid conflict with the minority voting protection provision.
Central Florida: Senate Districts 10 and 12
Thus, we start with District 10, then review District 12, and conclude that District 10, as drawn, violates the Constitution. The Coalition ... asserts that District 10 violates Article III, Section 21, because this district was gerrymandered into a bizarre shape in order to include a particular incumbents residence and provide him with a safe Republican seat.
The Coalition further asserts that the district barely misses another incumbents residence that is located on the border between District 10 and District 13, preventing two incumbent Republicans from running against each other.
Southwest Florida: Senate District 30
After examining all the constitutional requirements, we conclude that the district as drawn violates the Florida constitutional standards that districts -- shall be compact and utilize political and geographical boundaries where feasible. Further, the failure to comply with the tier-two standards, in the absence of any constitutionally valid justification, objectively indicates intent to favor an incumbent.
The map of District 30 ... best shows its odd-shaped configuration, which resembles an upside-down alligator.
Southeast Florida: Senate Districts 29 and 34
We conclude that both districts are constitutionally invalid because they are not compact, do not utilize political and geographical boundaries where feasible, and appear to have been drawn with the intent to favor an incumbent and a political party.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
