Florida Judge voids FLORIDA GOP created congressional map

Wrong! The Republican U.S. Supreme Court made the final decision. So you're
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Once again you dumb ass, 7 of 9 AGREED that the recount as conducted was illegal. Further Bush won every completed recount done legally. And he won every recount done after the fact even by biased sources.
And once again, fart wad, read this for the Actual Story!

Yes, Bush v. Gore Did Steal the Election -- NYMag

Sure thing retard.
 
I guess you missed this post as you cried about Republicans and ignored democrats.

Hiding behind the Majority-Minority district policy of the voting rights act doesn't change the fact that Republicans drew stupidly bias maps. Bias to the point of absurdity with Democrats winning 50.6% of the vote and getting 31% of the seats.

I notice you did not care that prior to 2010 when the dems controlled NC and drew all the maps and made shit like 12 and 1 there was no outrage from you. Not a peep. No complaints no hand wringing no outrage. Funny how that works.

In 2008 the Democrats won 55% of the votes and got 60% of the seats...a whole 5% difference, whoop dee doo. It's worth noting that this includes electing Mike McIntyre, who's pretty much a conservative republican in all but name.

Take out Mike McIntyre's win...and you have an election perfectly in line with what the votes say they should be.
 
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An update, and apparently, it WILL affect the 2014 mid-terms:


Florida judge: Redraw congressional map now - Tarini Parti - POLITICO.com




A Florida judge has asked the state legislature to redraw the state’s congressional map by Aug. 15, holding out the possibility that Florida could postpone some or all of its House elections until after the scheduled general election on Nov. 4.

After weeks of nudging from Democratic groups and uncertainty for candidates running in House races, Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis — who previously ruled the state’s congressional map violated the Florida Constitution — on Friday provided some clarity on how a new map could still affect the 2014 election...

...“There is just no way, legally or logistically, to put in place a new map, amend the various deadlines and have elections on November 4th, as prescribed by Federal law. … However it might be possible to push the general election date back to allow for a special election in 2014 for any affected districts.”


I don't recall anything like this ever happening before in my lifetime. I think (but am not 100% sure) that this is a first in electoral pollitics.

This would affect FL-05 and F-10, but there are 7 other districts that border either one or both of the the CD's in question and some of all of their boundaries could also be affected:


140801_floridasidebar.jpg

That would be FL-03, FL-04, FL-06, FL-11, FL-10, FL-07 and FL-09:


7566_27_01_14_11_52_44.png

Also, in a way, it is quite unfair, because the primaries are already over and people who voted for someone in one district may find that they are casting their general election vote in a newly drawn "other" district.

I can imagine that this ruling and request will be litigated.
 
A friendly shout out to some folks about the posting above this one: [MENTION=42916]Derideo_Te[/MENTION] [MENTION=9429]AVG-JOE[/MENTION] [MENTION=45886]Mad_Cabbie[/MENTION] [MENTION=20412]JakeStarkey[/MENTION] [MENTION=38281]Wolfsister77[/MENTION] [MENTION=21679]william the wie[/MENTION] [MENTION=43625]Mertex[/MENTION] [MENTION=37250]aaronleland[/MENTION] [MENTION=36767]Bloodrock44[/MENTION] [MENTION=30999]daws101[/MENTION] [MENTION=46449]Delta4Embassy[/MENTION] [MENTION=33449]BreezeWood[/MENTION] [MENTION=46750]Knightfall[/MENTION] [MENTION=20450]MarcATL[/MENTION] [MENTION=20594]Mr Clean[/MENTION] [MENTION=20704]Nosmo King[/MENTION] [MENTION=45320]Nyvin[/MENTION] [MENTION=20321]rightwinger[/MENTION] [MENTION=25283]Sallow[/MENTION] [MENTION=21524]oldfart[/MENTION] [MENTION=46193]Thx[/MENTION] [MENTION=20614]candycorn[/MENTION] [MENTION=24452]Seawytch[/MENTION] [MENTION=29614]C_Clayton_Jones[/MENTION] [MENTION=18990]Barb[/MENTION] [MENTION=31057]JoeB131[/MENTION] [MENTION=11278]editec[/MENTION] [MENTION=22983]Flopper[/MENTION] [MENTION=46136]dreolin[/MENTION] [MENTION=34688]Grandma[/MENTION] [MENTION=48060]guno[/MENTION] [MENTION=42946]Howey[/MENTION] [MENTION=20112]bodecea[/MENTION] [MENTION=41527]Pogo[/MENTION] [MENTION=48010]Machaut[/MENTION] [MENTION=39530]AceRothstein[/MENTION] [MENTION=25493]kiwiman127[/MENTION] [MENTION=42949]bendog[/MENTION] [MENTION=49463]PoliticalTorch[/MENTION] [MENTION=39852]TheOldSchool[/MENTION] [MENTION=45739]Jughead[/MENTION] [MENTION=36528]cereal_killer[/MENTION]


Anyone who doesn't want to be on this occasional mention list: just let me know, I will drop the name immediately. If you want onto the list, just let me know. I really am trying to make this a totally non-partisan list.

Thanks,

-Stat

Folks, please do not quote this posting, otherwise, you send out the mention list again. Thanks.
 
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Gosh, so many mouth-breathers on this site who seem to avoid thinking.

Judge Lewis was the one who ruled in favor of Sec. of State Katherine Harris in Bush v. Gore both times that he was presiding over cases having to do with when votes needed to be tallied in that contentious election.

Judge Lewis followed Florida State Law both times and it helped George W. Bush on his way to becoming President. Florida State Law put deadlines ahead of accuracy, which I think is poorly written law, but it was law all the same and Judge Lewis interpreted it correctly.

He has also interpreted the law correctly in this case. Republicans agreed in secret to designing a map that would favor them and then they showed up to public hearings pretending to be average people from the general public who were simply giving their input as to how the maps should be redrawn.

That's a violation of Florida's state constitution and I don't care what party you side with.

Judge Lewis interpreted the law correctly in both of those cases, which are now probably his 3 biggest cases as a Judge. Two times it helped Republicans and one time it did not.

Contrary to the opinion of his dissenters on this thread, there's no judicial activism here. His ruling has big consequences and is making for a complicated ride to the elections, but that's not his fault. He wouldn't have had to make the decision he did had Republicans not broken the law.

It's telling that Republicans aren't appealing the decision, either. They've basically said, "Fine, but can the map just stay the way it is for this election and we'll come to a resolution for 2016?". Judge Lewis is considering that, and since he's fair and independent minded, I think he'll bend a little.
 
ah yes, you must find him a rock star?



Do you actually ever read for content, Stephanie?

No one is a rock star for me.

This is news.

Learn to discern, like adults do. The information is all there in the OP.
And you might note the disclaimer at the end.

naaa, I don't take anything from you as "adult"
but answer my questions? why are you in favor of allowing lowly judges to overturn the will of the people? where is that in their POWERS?

Since when is "The court found that the Republican consultants made a mockery of fair districting and that there was a secretive, organized campaign, a shadow process of map-drawing," a will of the people? Maybe crooked people, like you Steph?
 

I guess you missed this post as you cried about Republicans and ignored democrats.

Hiding behind the Majority-Minority district policy of the voting rights act doesn't change the fact that Republicans drew stupidly bias maps. Bias to the point of absurdity with Democrats winning 50.6% of the vote and getting 31% of the seats.

just to elaborate upon your point, democrats received 1 million more votes than the GOP in the House. the fact that they are the majority is an obscenity.
 
did the ruling include public proceedings and disclosures for the newly drawn map including plaintiff input ?

.
 
When a judge issues a ruling the judicial reasoning is important. Everyone is partisan and organized. How could it be secret?
 
I guess you missed this post as you cried about Republicans and ignored democrats.

Hiding behind the Majority-Minority district policy of the voting rights act doesn't change the fact that Republicans drew stupidly bias maps. Bias to the point of absurdity with Democrats winning 50.6% of the vote and getting 31% of the seats.

just to elaborate upon your point, democrats received 1 million more votes than the GOP in the House. the fact that they are the majority is an obscenity.

The constitution is an obscenity in the mind of the leftist. :cuckoo:
 
7566_27_01_14_11_52_44.png





This is a big story. A REAL big story, and one with some far-reaching implications:


TALLAHASSEE: Judge throws out Florida's congressional map - Florida - MiamiHerald.com


TALLAHASSEE -- A judge threw out Florida’s congressional redistricting map Thursday, ruling that the Legislature allowed for a “secret, organized campaign” by partisan operatives to subvert the redistricting process in violation of the state Constitution.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled that two of the state’s 27 districts are invalid and must be redrawn, along with any other districts affected by them, to bring the map into compliance with the state’s new Fair District amendments.

The 41-page ruling, issued late Thursday, invalidates the entire congressional map and raises questions now about whether the map will be redrawn before the November elections or revised later. The case, brought by a coalition led by the League of Women Voters, is expected to be appealed and ultimately decided by the Florida Supreme Court.

Any change in the political lines for Congress would have a ripple effect on other races, though not until the 2016 election cycle.

Lewis rejected challenges to districts in South Florida and Tampa Bay, but said that District 5, held by Democrat U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown of Jacksonville, and District 10, held by Republican U.S. Rep. Dan Webster of Winter Park “will need to be redrawn, as will any other districts affected thereby.”

The judge agreed with the coalition’s prime argument: that Republican legislators and staffers collaborated with political consultants to create “a shadow redistricting process” that protected incumbents and the GOP.



Judge invalidates two Florida congressional districts | Tampa Bay Times


Lewis drew no conclusions that House Speaker Will Weatherford, former House Speaker Dean Cannon and Senate President Don Gaetz were aware of the scheme, but he raised doubts that they were not in some way complicit. The judge detailed the involvement of Cannon's aide, Kirk Pepper, and repeated evidence that came out at trial about Pepper forwarding draft maps to GOP operative Marc Reichelderfer.

Lewis also noted that legislative leaders and the political operatives destroyed almost all of their emails and other documents related to redistricting and concluded that the circumstantial evidence surrounding all of those developments, and the evidence that the consultants attempted to influence the same districts he has found problematic, proved the GOP operatives were trying to influence the process.

"There is no legal duty on the part of the Legislature to preserve these records, but you have to wonder why they didn't,'' he wrote. "Litigation over their plans was 'a moral certainty' as their lawyers put it earlier in the case, and intent would be a key issue in any challenge."

Lewis tore apart the defense of the most controversial district in Florida's map — District 5, a snake-shaped boundary that runs from Jacksonville to Orlando and was first drawn by a court 20 years ago when Brown was first elected.

Lewis said the changes made to the other district, 10, "benefited the incumbent Representative Webster" and violated the Fair Districts rules.

Lewis also raised questions about the decision by House and Senate leaders to ignore the potential political performance of most districts they drew and why they didn't concern themselves with the authors of publicly submitted maps.


Florida's electoral map in flux after court ruling | Reuters


"The court found that the Republican consultants made a mockery of fair districting and that there was a secretive, organized campaign, a shadow process of map-drawing," Macnab added.

The was the latest development in a protracted legal fight that began after the state House and Senate redrew Florida's congressional districts in 2012. Republicans control both houses of the state legislature.

"What is clear to me from the evidence ... is that this group of Republican political consultants or operatives did in fact conspire to manipulate and influence the redistricting process," Lewis wrote in the 41-page ruling.

University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett said the ruling would bolster Democratic strength in the so-called I-4 corridor running across central Florida.

One prominent Democrat affected by the ruling, U.S. Representative Corrine Brown of Jacksonville, said the ruling dealt a blow to black voting rights. The judge ordered the redrawing of her congressional district and an adjoining Orlando-area district represented by Republican U.S. Representative Daniel Webster.

The plaintiffs who challenged the redistricting claimed that Republican legislators packed as many black voters as possible into Brown's district, which she was likely to win anyway, so that districts bordering on it would be more heavily white and likely to vote Republican.

Those districts include Webster's district in the Orlando area. Six of the seven congressional districts adjoining Brown's district are represented by Republicans.


A Florida judge just voided the state?s congressional districts. Here?s what you need to know. - The Washington Post


dists1.jpg



Lewis singles out the 5th District, saying it is "visually not compact, bizarrely shaped, and does not follow traditional political boundaries as it winds from Jacksonville to Orlando." Its finger-like appendage jutting into Seminole County "was done with the intent of benefitting the Republican Party." The 5th District was originally drawn in the 90s with the intent of creating a majority-minority district, and by extension a safe Democratic seat. Democrat Corinne Brown has held that seat since 1992.

But as I've described in detail before, when you concentrate minority voting power in one district, you necessarily dilute it everywhere else. You end up with district-level segregation: minority districts for minority voters. Judge Lewis notes this in the Florida case -- the appendage from District 5 going into Seminole County had the net effect of increasing the minority population in District 5, and decreasing it in neighboring District 7, making that district more friendly to Republicans...

...Democrat Corinne Brown, who's held the 5th District for more than 20 years, last night issued a blistering statement opposing the judge's ruling. As the Tampa Bay Times' Alex Leary describes in great detail, Brown partnered with Republicans to create that district in the 1990s. She's siding with them again in Florida's redistricting case, and it's easy to see the mutual benefit there: Brown gets a safe majority-minority district, while Republicans benefit from diluted minority representation in all the districts surrounding Brown's.

In effect, she's choosing political self-interest over the interest of her party
...

...The Florida ruling adds up to a scathing indictment of the redistricting process in that state, and by extension the similar processes that happen in most other states. As long as redistricting remains in the hands of the partisans, real reform is unlikely.


The WAPO article links to the judge's ruling, but I could not get the link to work:

Navigator

The site may have gotten overloaded. I will update as soon as possible.


An important detail: this ruling has no effect on the 2014 mid-terms, but it will have an effect on the 2016 elections.



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And a personal note, on this thread over electioneering, a very large OP that covers the first five postings:

http://www.usmessageboard.com/clean-debate-zone/333884-electioneering.html#post8424470

I gave recommendations for how to do fair and impartial redistricting in all 50 states.

When you read what is happening in Florida (and could well happen in other states), I think that the argument I made has more and more merit with time.

Also, I want to make a specific note that in terms of Gerrymandering, the Democratic Party is often every bit as guilty as the Republican Party. This is a phenomenon that absolutely must stop.
So, was Mr. Gerry Mandering at work here? ;)
 
Using exactly the same judicial reasoning you could easily strike down the monstrosity ironically called "the affordable care act"
 
Corrine Brown will be torqued. You have to be in office to win that district and even though it is supposed to be a D/minority lock the only people I know from that district are hardcore Paulistas.
 
Hiding behind the Majority-Minority district policy of the voting rights act doesn't change the fact that Republicans drew stupidly bias maps. Bias to the point of absurdity with Democrats winning 50.6% of the vote and getting 31% of the seats.

just to elaborate upon your point, democrats received 1 million more votes than the GOP in the House. the fact that they are the majority is an obscenity.

The constitution is an obscenity in the mind of the leftist. :cuckoo:


Ok, that was pretty stupid, even for your standards.

Righties love the Constitution. Oh, except for the parts they want to rip out of it when they are insanely butthurt, like the 17th amendment, maybe the 16th, and why in the fuck should women be allowed to vote, anyway? Dammit, it should be rich, WHITE plantation owners who vote, DAMMIT!!! Yepp, kill that amendment, too!


:rofl:
 
All districts in all states should be drawn up by people that are either independent, centrist, or completely uninterested in politics.

All states' districts should be in a simple grid, the districts being a collection of squares (or rectangles, or circles, or triangles...) varying in size only to accommodate population variances and irregular state line borders.
 

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