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Like A Broken Record: Congressional Map Heading Back To Court

Florida's new congressional borders may be decided behind these walls.
Nick Evans

Florida’s congressional map remains in limbo after a two week special session.  That means the courts are next up to the plate.

Last week squabbling between GOP leaders in the Florida Legislature derailed efforts to yet again revise the state’s congressional map.  With lawmakers heading to a Tuesday court hearing empty-handed, the task of drafting borders could be in the hands of the judiciary.   But University of Central Florida Political Scientist Aubrey Jewett says court involvement is nothing new.

“Yeah, so ‘62, ‘72, ‘92, 2002, and now, we have had court intervention either at the federal or state level,” Jewett says, “And in some cases both.”

The last time judges actually drew borders was after the 1990 census, when a panel of three federal judges redrew District Five as a minority access seat.  Ironically, charges of minority packing in more recent iterations of that district played a major role invalidating the existing map.

Nick Evans came to Tallahassee to pursue a masters in communications at Florida State University. He graduated in 2014, but not before picking up an internship at WFSU. While he worked on his degree Nick moved from intern, to part-timer, to full-time reporter. Before moving to Tallahassee, Nick lived in and around the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years. He listens to far too many podcasts and is a die-hard 49ers football fan. When Nick’s not at work he likes to cook, play music and read.