Weekly Redistricting Update

By EditorNov 17, 2015

Florida: State Legislature Cries "Uncle," Gives Up On a Legislative District Map Last week the Florida Legislature ended its second special redistricting session without a map for state senate districts. Senate leaders are throwing the issue back to the court, and have proposed that the court have a special master draw the map. This "proposal" reflects many senators' disapproval of the court's handling of the congressional map redraw, which invited parties to the litigation to propose maps instead of having a more neutral party redraw the lines. A court hearing is schedule for December 14th. Virginia: Supreme Court Will…

RedistrictingFlorida, Texas, texas redistricting, Virginia

Weekly Update

By EditorOct 19, 2015

Florida: Special Session for Redistricting Begins With its congressional map tied up in the courts, legislators in Florida have convened a another special session to redraw state senate lines in an effort to head off court invalidation. It is scheduled to last three weeks and state news organizations report it is likely to be a contentious one. You can view the current districts and 6 proposed map that have been unveiled so far. Ohio: Redistricting Ballot Measure Not as Sexy as Other Issues Good government groups backing Ohio Ballot Issue 1 are up against widespread ignorance about the proposal.…

Redistricting, REFORMFlorida, Ohio, Texas, texas redistricting

Fallout Over Redistricting “Prisoners” Comments in Florida

By EditorSep 29, 2015

VIDEO: State Representative Janet Adkins is feeling the backlash from the comments she made in a private meeting about how Republicans may be able to defeat the democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown. Source: Fallout over redistricting comments

UncategorizedFlorida, prisoners

Lawsuit Alleges Prison Gerrymandering in Florida County

By EditorApr 08, 2015

The ACLU of Florida has launched a salvo against prison gerrymandering. It filed this lawsuit against a Florida county's inclusion of a state prison in its legislative map. The press release is below. March 9, 2015 MIAMI, FL – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida filed a federal lawsuit challenging an election system in Jefferson County, Florida which counts the inmate population of a state prison in the drawing of district maps. The lawsuit, filed today in the U.S. District Court in Tallahassee, states that by treating the approximately 1,157 inmates at the Jefferson Correctional Institution (JCI)…

Casedocs, Local Redistricting, Redistricting, Redistricting GerrymandersACLU, Florida, Jefferson county, local, Prison gerrymandering, prisoner reallocation

Quarterly Redistricting Update: January 2015

By EditorFeb 16, 2015

Arizona October 2014- The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Arizona State Legislature’s case against the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission - formed in 2000 when voters approved Proposition 106. This proposition amended the state constitution to assign the redistricting function to a 5 member body. The seminal question in this case is whether the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause allows the redistricting task to be delegated away from the legislature. As simple a question as that may seem, there are several other preliminary issues of law that could keep the high court from ever answering the question. There are issues of standing, justiciability…

UncategorizedArizona, Florida, Virginia, Yakima Washington

Quarterly Redistricting Update: October 2014

By EditorFeb 16, 2015

Florida Fair Districts Case In early July, a circuit court judge in Tallahassee ruled Florida’s congressional map did indeed violate the state’s Fair Districts amendments outlawing partisan influenced linedrawing. The 5th and 10th congressional districts were singled out by the court as requiring modification. The judge added that Florida’s Republican legislature made a “mockery” of the Fair Districts Amendments and used political consultants on the sly to draw the map. In early August, the legislature approved a new map, which made changes to 7 districts in total - but Common Cause, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, says the map does…

UncategorizedFlorida, North Carolina, quarterly updates, Texas, Yakima Washington