A Florida appeals court rejected a request from attorneys from both sides of a congressional redistricting lawsuit to expedite the case to the state Supreme Court.
Judges on the 1st District Court of Appeal will hold an “en banc” hearing on the lawsuit over the redistricting plan pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), the order filed Monday stated, meaning the full membership of the court will hear the merits of the case as opposed to a "panel decision," which is decided by three judges. The appeal declares that both parties have until 5 p.m. on Wednesday to provide an “expedited briefing schedule.”
UAW STRIKE: SHAWN FAIN GIVES NEW DEADLINE BEFORE MORE UNION WORKERS WALK OUT ON JOBS
“The schedule must include proposed deadlines for the service of any amicus briefing requests,” the order added. “If the parties fail to provide such a schedule, the court will set a briefing schedule by separate order.”
The order from the 1st District Court of Appeal comes after a motion was filed on Sept. 8 jointly by several voting rights groups and state counsel, stating the lawsuit “requires immediate resolution by the Florida Supreme Court to provide certainty to voters, potential candidates, and elections officials regarding the configuration and validity of Florida’s congressional districts sufficiently in advance of the 2024 election.”
Earlier this month, a Leon County circuit judge declared DeSantis’s redistricting maps unconstitutional, ordering the legislature to redraw them. Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh said the northern Florida congressional district maps violated the Florida Constitution’s "Fair Districts Amendments." Attorneys for Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the House and Senate filed a notice to appeal shortly after the ruling.
The ruling by Marsh was a blow to DeSantis in what is turning out to be a long legal battle after the governor rejected the Republican legislature’s congressional maps that were drawn last year, largely keeping districts intact, and drew his own.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A coalition of voting rights groups that includes the League of Women Voters, Black Voters Matter, Ground Education Fund, and others is arguing that the map drawn by the Republican governor over concerns that it dilutes black voting power. The lawsuit mainly focuses on northern Florida’s Congressional District 5, stretching from Jacksonville to Tallahassee.
DeSantis’s congressional map, pushed through last year, targeted former Rep. Al Lawson’s (D-FL) seat and pushed him out of office after he lost the election while Republicans picked up four seats.