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Supremes toss out Legislature’s anti-Fair Districting amendment

Posted Aug 31, 2010 by William March

Updated Aug 31, 2010 at 04:58 PM

The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a constitutional amendment proposed by the Florida Legislature which an anti-gerrymandering group says was aimed at undoing their Fair Districts amendments.

The amendment in question, Amendment 7, was passed by the Florida House and Senate in response to two other measures—Amendments 5 and 6—which have already been put on the November ballot.

Amendments 5 and 6 seek to prevent gerrymandering in the drawing of districts for the state Legislature and Florida congressional delegation, but Republicans fear they’ll result in districts less friendly to Republicans, who currently hold majorities in the Legislature and the U.S. House delegation.

In response, the GOP-dominated Legislature sought to put Amendment 7 on the ballot. Its sponsors said it was intended to clarify the other amendments and preserve rules requiring districts intended to elect minorities. But the Fair Districts group, which conducted a petition drive for Amendments 5 and 6, said Amendment 7 was intended simply to undo them.

The Supreme Court today upheld a lower court ruling saying the ballot summary for Amendment 7 was misleading, because it didn’t tell voters the effect of the amendment would be to weaken the standards spelled out in Amendments 5 and 6.

State House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands praised the decision, saying the court “checked the arrogant abuse of power by Republican legislative leaders by ensuring that voters will have a reasonable opportunity to improve our state’s redistricting process.”

Incoming House Speaker Dean Cannon, representing the House majority, disagreed, saying, “It’s terribly disappointing to have the work of the legislative branch demolished by a co-equal branch of government.” He said the Supreme Court doesn’t have the right to rule on a constitutional amendment offered by the state Legislature.