TALLAHASSEE — A panel of federal judges Friday said a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of three Florida House districts and one congressional district can move forward — while rejecting challenges to four other House districts.
The 20-page ruling came in a request by the House for summary judgment to end the lawsuit, which alleged seven Miami-Dade County state House districts and one congressional district that crosses South Florida were gerrymandered based on race.
The three-judge panel granted the request for summary judgment on House Districts 112, 113, 114 and 116 but denied it on House Districts 115, 118 and 119 and Congressional District 26. That effectively could lead to a trial on the constitutionality of the remaining disputed districts.
“In sum, plaintiffs have offered district-specific statements of key actors and district-specific circumstantial evidence that is sufficient to create a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether race predominated in the drawing of House Districts 115, 118 and 119 and Congressional District 26,” said the ruling, written by U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra and joined by 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Britt Grant and U.S. District Judge Rodolfo Ruiz. “Accordingly, summary judgment is not appropriate with respect to these districts.”
But the ruling also said, “The House argues that plaintiffs fail to provide either direct or circumstantial evidence that the Legislature was motivated predominantly by racial considerations when drawing House Districts 112, 113, 114 and 116. As to these districts, the court agrees.
Unlike in regular federal lawsuits, three-judge panels handle redistricting cases.
The lawsuit, filed last year in federal court in Miami, has been one of a series of legal battles stemming from the state’s 2022 redistricting process. The plaintiffs are the groups Cubanos Pa’lante, Engage Miami and the FIU ACLU Club and individuals.
The plaintiffs’ lawyers have contended the Legislature violated equal-protection rights in the way it drew districts that would elect Hispanic candidates.
House Districts 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118 and 119, have been held, respectively, by Miami-Dade County Republicans Alex Rizo, Vicki Lopez, Demi Busatta, Omar Blanco, House Speaker Daniel Perez, Mike Redondo and Juan Carlos Porras. Congressional District 26, which stretches from Miami-Dade to Collier counties, is represented by Republican Mario Diaz-Balart. Lopez resigned her House seat last week after being appointed to the Miami-Dade County Commission.
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As an example of the districts that remain in dispute after Friday’s ruling, the panel said the plaintiffs argued that House District 15 is not “visually or mathematically compact” because of a northern section described as an “appendage.”
“In particular, plaintiffs rely upon the northern extension of House District 115, which they contend is ‘an irregular appendage.’” the ruling said. “Plaintiffs also point to evidence that House District 115 forms an unusual ‘long and skinny’ shape because it ‘runs over 15.5 miles north-south but is only 1.8 miles at its narrowest point.’”
In contrast, in granting summary judgment to the House on District 112, the panel rejected arguments that the district was part of splitting up the city of Miami more than necessary.
“Even assuming that plaintiffs are correct, they do not cite any evidence that shows the Legislature decided to split the city of Miami for racial reasons,” the ruling said. “The same infirmity exists with respect to plaintiffs’ other complaint, that the Legislature could have added the southeast corner of House District 112 to a neighboring district. Again, plaintiffs do not offer any evidence that inclusion of the disputed corner in House District 112 was racially motivated.”
Friday’s ruling came three months after a separate three-judge panel upheld a 2022 Senate redistricting plan, rejecting arguments that a Tampa Bay-area district was racially gerrymandered. Also, in July, the Florida Supreme Court upheld an overhaul of a North Florida congressional district that was pushed through by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
