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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Thursday that federal judges do not have the authority to redraw election districts that are overly skewed in favor of one political party due to map manipulation known as “gerrymandering.”
The decision will have an impact on several states, including North Carolina and Maryland where partisans brought the legal challenges. But in Florida? The effects are more limited.
That’s because unlike some other states, the Florida Constitution already has written rules prohibiting any redistricting maps “drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent.”
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“I don’t think it’s going to change anything,’’ said Ellen Freidin, the Miami lawyer who led the 2010 Fair Districts citizens’ initiative to add that rule to the state Constitution.
In 2012, Florida courts overturned maps drawn by the state Legislature that redrew the state Senate and congressional districts. After six years of fierce litigation, including four separate federal court challenges to the map amendments that were rejected by the court, the maps approved by the courts were adopted.
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