{"id":278,"date":"2023-10-06T14:13:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-06T18:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/common-cause-v-byrd-federal-redistricting-trial-wraps-up\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T16:16:35","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T20:16:35","slug":"common-cause-v-byrd-federal-redistricting-trial-wraps-up","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/common-cause-v-byrd-federal-redistricting-trial-wraps-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Cause v Byrd: Federal Redistricting Trial Wraps Up"},"template":"","class_list":["post-278","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","article_type-blog-post"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Some key take aways from our federal redistricting trial that was heard by a three judge panel in federal court in Tallahassee from September 26-October 3","featured_image":6494,"article_type":162,"authors":"","related_issues":[62,402],"related_work":[165],"location":12},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Common Cause Florida\u2019s federal redistricting trial adjourned this week, after 4 days of hard-hitting testimony about the Governor\u2019s intentional racial discrimination against Florida voters in his congressional map.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Governor DeSantis strong-armed the legislature into approving a congressional map that intentionally denies Black voters in Florida their right to elect candidates of their choice, in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We have made a strong case that clearly demonstrates several key factors that courts use to assess race-based discrimination, including:\u00a0<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>There is a discriminatory impact<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: For the first time in more than 30 years, Black voters in north Florida have lost the opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. Indeed, the candidates that the Black community preferred lost in north Florida in 2022 and there is no longer any Black congressperson representing north Florida.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>There is a long history of racial discrimination in Florida<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: From Reconstruction and Jim Crow all the way up to today\u2019s voting restrictions aimed at communities of color, the erasure of Black history from our classrooms, and attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>There was a less-discriminatory alternative available<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: The legislature drew a map that retained a Black opportunity district in north Florida AND addressed all of the Governor\u2019s stated concerns, but the Governor vetoed it anyway.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><b>There were multiple departures from normal procedure<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: From the Governor\u2019s unprecedented pressure campaign, veto of the legislature's proposed maps, and production of his own maps to the legislature passing a map with a back-up map, and more.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Common Cause Florida\u2019s Program Director took the stand on September 27th to tell the court about our membership in the impacted districts, why this case is important to us and our work, and the increasing hostility of the state and private citizens against voters and voting rights organizations in Florida.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sitting in the courtroom, our Florida team was shocked and saddened to hear the Governor\u2019s legal team and witnesses dismiss Florida\u2019s legacy of racial discrimination and make circular arguments to avoid saying what we know is true: the Governor didn\u2019t want a map where Black voters in north Florida could elect a representative of their choice.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But the Governor doesn\u2019t get to decide which laws he wants to follow and which laws he wants to ignore. And we believe the court should hold him accountable.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<b>So, what happens next? <\/b>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We hope to see a ruling before the end of the year. If the court rules in our favor, they could order the legislature to draw a new congressional map before the 2024 election. Even if we win, we still have a battle ahead to make sure the legislature complies with the ruling and Black voters' rights to fair representation are respected.<\/span>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.6 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Common Cause v Byrd: Federal Redistricting Trial Wraps Up - Common Cause Florida<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/common-cause-v-byrd-federal-redistricting-trial-wraps-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common Cause v Byrd: Federal Redistricting Trial Wraps Up\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/common-cause-v-byrd-federal-redistricting-trial-wraps-up\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Florida\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-10T20:16:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/common-cause-v-byrd-federal-redistricting-trial-wraps-up\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/florida\/articles\/common-cause-v-byrd-federal-redistricting-trial-wraps-up\/\",\"name\":\"Common Cause v Byrd: Federal Redistricting Trial Wraps Up - 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