FL Supreme Court will take its time deciding fate of Black-opportunity congressional district

The Florida Supreme Court will consider voting-rights advocates’ appeal of a congressional redistricting map that erased Black representation in North Florida, but the justices might not decide the case in time to affect the November elections.

In an order issued on Wednesday, the court gave Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute and other plaintiffs until Feb. 28 to file their initial brief in the case. The state has 30 days after that to reply; the groups have another 30 days to respond to the state’s arguments; and then the state has 30 days to file its final answer.

Which would place the end of the briefing section of the case at the beginning of July. Qualifying to run for Congress ends on April 27. The Legislature, which would have to draw a new map if the high court decides for the voting-rights groups, adjourns its regular session on March 8.

And that doesn’t account for oral arguments, which the justices said “will be set by separate order. Counsel for the parties will be notified of the oral argument date approximately 60 days prior to oral argument.”

History

In 2022, the state House and Senate approved a redistricting plan that would have preserved a Black-opportunity district in North Florida, meaning one where Black voters had a chance to elect their candidate of choice. Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed it and insisted the Legislature adopt his own map, which abolished the district, and the lawmakers complied.

Black voters living within the state’s old plantation zone were divided between white-majority districts that elected Republicans. Al Lawson, a Black Democrat, had served for the old district.

DeSantis argued the district constituted a racial gerrymander, but a trial judge ruled that the governor’s map violated Florida’s Fair Districts Amendment, which forbids diminishment of minority voting power.

The First District Court of Appeal upheld the DeSantis map on Dec. 1, ruling that the district didn’t benefit the required “naturally occurring,” “geographically compact” Black “community.” Instead, it said, the district’s Black population was “far-flung” and “artificially brought together.” The district stretched around 200 miles to capture Black voters between Duval and Gadsden and Leon counties.