(RoyalPatriot.com )- According to CNN, on Wednesday, a judge for a circuit court in Florida stated that he intends to issue an order that will prevent a new congressional map that Governor Ron DeSantis support from going into effect because the map would illegally suppress the voting rights of African-Americans in the northern part of the state.
Judge J. Layne Smith, who was appointed to his position in 2020 by Republican DeSantis, sided with Democrats and voting rights groups in their argument that the map violates the state constitution “because it diminishes the ability of African Americans to elect the representative of their choice.” Democrats and voting rights groups argued that the map violates the state constitution.
According to CNN’s reporting, the order may be issued as soon as Thursday, despite the state likely fighting the judgment.
The design that DeSantis advocated for eliminated two districts represented by African American Democrats, one of which was the 5th, which Al Lawson presently means.
According to Florida Politics, the black population in this district makes up 49 percent of the total; however, in the two new districts formed under the governor’s plan in northern Florida, the black population would only make up between 12 and 25 percent of the total.
According to CNN, while DeSantis was pushing his plan, he stated that the 5th Congressional District was illegal since it extended out across 150 miles to link Tallahassee and Jacksonville. This caused him to claim that the district violated the constitution.
However, the judge stated that the 5th District had historical roots in Black communities. The Florida Supreme Court had established a precedent in the preceding decade when it set the boundaries of that district after years of legal struggles. The judge also stated that the Florida Supreme Court had established the boundaries of the 5th District.
Smith went on to say that the state constitution makes it quite clear that a reapportionment plan must not make it more difficult for members of minority groups “to elect representatives of their choosing.”
According to The Hill, DeSantis’s engagement in the redistricting process was a first for a governor in modern times and set a precedent that will likely never be surpassed.
He went so far as to veto a design authorized by the GOP-led Legislature and kept the 5th District in the north of Florida. Instead, he demanded that his version be used.
