Free Republic

In a 5-2 opinion, the Florida Supreme Court Wednesday approved a map for the 27 congressional districts submitted not by the Florida Legislature, but by the Florida League of Women Voters and other members of a liberal coalition and approved by Circuit Judge Terry Lewis in October. See the high court's decison here. The resulting map approved Wednesday is basically the work of Democratic operatives. Justice Ricky Polston, one of the dissenters, criticized the decision because Judge Lewis relied on a map drawn by a redistricting consultant with ties to Democrats and was designed to intentionally pack Republicans into districts. That...

Doesn't anyone else think it's time the public found out who funded the coalition of groups suing the Legislature over its redistricting maps? Who paid plaintiff attorney David King?God knows, it wasn't the League of Women Voters of Florida. So, how does a group with such a tiny budget wrangle a team of high-priced, Gucci-shoed lawyers, arguing every one of the redistricting lawsuits in court?

The Florida House and Senate meet today to discuss redistricting. Maps of proposed districts and other documents available: http://www.flsenate.gov/session/redistricting

A plan to redraw Florida's 27 congressional districts overwhelmingly passed the state House on Tuesday, inching closer to a potential faceoff with the Senate. The map approved would require major changes to several districts, including U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown's 5th Congressional District. Brown has filed a federal lawsuit to overturn the state court's decision to redraw the districts. Brown said it's not about her, but about black voters being able to elect someone to represent them.

.... Florida’s infamous 5th congressional district...runs from near Jacksonville in the North, hooks east for a few miles, then west for a few miles, narrows to the width of an Interstate highway for a while, cuts west all the way over to Gainesville, then swivels back east and southeast, finally arriving at Orlando, a distance of about 140 miles, sweeping in black neighborhoods along the way in order to create a “minority-majority” district.