UPDATE: Special legislative session kicks off in Tallahassee

UPDATE: Florida legislative committees on Friday approved a proposal to make slight changes to seven congressional districts to comply with a court order.

Panels in both the House and Senate passed the new map altering the districts, which stretch from central to northeast Florida. A final vote in the full House and Senate on the new map is expected early next week.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Terry Lewis ruled last month the original maps passed by legislators in 2012 was intended to benefit Republicans, in violation of a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 2010.

The ruling specified that Congressional Districts 5 and 10 were invalid. Republican legislative leaders defended their new maps as the best way to comply with the court order without disturbing other districts throughout the state while obeying the federal Voting Rights Act's prohibition against undercutting minority districts.

But the League of Women Voters, which brought the lawsuit, contends that small changes to the map are not enough. The group takes particular issue with District 5, currently held by U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville — a skinny district running from Jacksonville to Orlando that was designed to produce a majority African-American district. The league prefers a district that runs west from Jacksonville to the heart of the Panhandle.

UPDATE: Florida legislators are going to vote on a proposal to tweak and alter seven of the state's 27 congressional districts.

The Florida Legislature is holding a special session to draw up a new map in order to comply with a judge's ruling.

House and Senate committees are scheduled to vote Friday on a new map that would make changes to a handful of districts located in north and central Florida.

Republicans who control the Florida Legislature kicked off a special session Thursday by proposing to tweak seven of the state’s 27 congressional districts in order to comply with a judge’s ruling.

The session is scheduled to last up to nine days, but legislative leaders are moving ahead quickly with a new map that would make changes to a handful of districts located in north and central Florida.

The session is being sparked by a judge’s July ruling that found two districts were drawn illegally to benefit Republicans. Circuit Judge Terry Lewis last week gave legislators until Aug. 15 to draw up a new map.

House Speaker Will Weatherford insisted that the new maps would be free from the partisan influence that Lewis ruled had rendered the previous map adopted in 2012 unconstitutional. The Wesley Chapel Republican said the new proposal was being drawn in consultation between legislative employees and attorneys to address Lewis’ ruling.

“They are working on a map that is legal in nature, that is completely apolitical and is focused on addressing the concerns of the court,” said Weatherford.

But the new map was also drawn up largely behind closed doors. The two Republicans in charge of the redistricting committee met for hours a day earlier to fine-tune the map before releasing it publicly.

Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton and the main senator working on redistricting, maintained that the meeting was legal and ethical under legislative rules.

The proposal released Thursday includes changes to the two districts flagged by Lewis as invalid: The sprawling district that stretches from Jacksonville to Orlando and is held by U.S. Rep. Corinne Brown and the central Florida district represented by U.S. Rep. Dan Webster.

Brown’s district would no longer include the city of Sanford in central Florida but her district would include more of Putnam County in north Florida. Webster would lose part of Orange County, while the district of U.S. Rep. John Mica’s district would also change.

The coalition of groups that sued the Legislature had proposed shifting Brown’s district to north Florida, saying the current district that reaches down into central Florida should be “abandoned.” The groups in their lawsuit contended Republicans packed Brown’s district with Democrats in order to make it easier for Republicans in adjoining districts.

“Slight alterations will not correct the constitutional defects Judge Lewis identified,” the groups wrote in a letter to Weatherford and Senate President Don Gaetz.

But George Meros, an attorney representing the House, questioned the validity of that proposal. Meros said that such a configuration could result in Brown losing her seat to a white candidate.

“There is no question that it makes it less likely for an African American candidate to win in an east-west configuration,” Meros said. The federal Voting Rights Act bars states from diluting the voting strength of minorities.

Voters in 2010 passed the “Fair Districts” amendment that says legislators cannot draw up districts to favor incumbents or a political party. A coalition of groups, including the League of Women Voters, contended that the Republican consultants used a “shadow” process to draw districts that benefited Republicans.

Lewis agreed there was enough evidence to show that consultants helped make a “mockery” of the process and ruled that two districts were invalid.

It’s not clear when the new maps would be implemented. Lewis has left open the possibility of ordering a special election later this year, but legislative leaders have vowed to challenge it. Source: http://www.saintpetersblog.com/

Judge Lewis called-out the Florida Legislature for creating unconstitutional congressional maps. I voted against these maps a few years ago. I am not happy returning to Tallahassee tomorrow to begin drawing honest maps. Fair maps that should have been drawn the first time. Fair maps that were promised at the time, yet failed to materialize due to politics as usual. Please pay attention to this "Special Session"

Thanks to the League of Women Voters for protecting Democrats, Republicans and all 3rd party folks who deserve honest representation in Washington.

Oh, I have no doubt Florida senate and house maps - drawn by the same people - are also unconstitutional. Fool me once....just once. Course, I wasn't fooled the first time.- Incoming Florida House Minority Leader Mark Pafford 

Florida lawmakers on Thursday began a special session to redraw congressional districts.

The unusual session stems from a ruling last month by Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis that a congressional map approved in 2012 violated requirements of the state Constitution.

The House and Senate met briefly Thursday and were later expected to hold a joint committee meeting to hear presentations from attorneys and to take public input.

House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, said a revised map would be released Thursday and that members could propose amendments Friday during a committee meeting.

The full House and Senate are scheduled to meet Monday.

A circuit court judge ruled that the Florida legislature's redrawn congressional districts were illegal, violating a state law preventing certain types of gerrymandering. A look at maps from before and after the redraw pretty clearly show what the Legislature hoped to accomplish.

In a scathing opinion, Leon County Circuit Judge Terry P. Lewis ruled in Tallahassee that the Legislature's Republican political consultants had "made a mockery" of the redistricting process, tainting it with "partisan intent."

Before the 2010 Census, Florida had 25 congressional districts. After, that number jumped to 27, thanks to an increase in the state's population. When state lawmakers set out define how those districts would be outlined, they relied on the advice of operatives from the Republican party, who provided input with the apparent goal of maximizing the party's advantage in the House. In 2008, 11 of the 25 districts were held by Democrats. In 2012, 10 of the 27 were.

Comparing Census data on racial composition from before and after the lines were redrawn, you can see the result: Hispanic votes were increasingly concentrated in districts held by Democrats.