Florida may have entered the home stretch in its multiyear effort to revise its congressional districts. The case came before the state Supreme Court Tuesday for the second and likely last time.
A month ago, Circuit Judge Terry Lewis chose a map drawn by a coalition of voting rights groups over proposals drawn by the House and Senate. Tuesday the attorneys made their case—one last time—before the Florida Supreme Court. But waiting in the wings is a federal challenge based on Democratic congresswoman Corrine Brown’s District Five. David King, attorney for the plaintiffs, says he’s hopeful that challenge will be thrown out.
“I think there is a very strong argument that District Five will perform for the African American candidate in the new configuration,” King says, “and consequentially that will probably—that finding will most likely end the federal lawsuit.”
King’s clients, most notably the League of Women Voters, successfully argued for District Five to take on an East-West orientation. Brown argues the change will disenfranchise African American voters.
