Florida Halts Black Voters Congressional Gerrymandering Suit (1)

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ redrawing of a dependably-Democratic congressional district into a dependable Republican seat was upheld Thursday by the Florida Supreme Court in a ruling that hobbled the state’s anti-racial gerrymandering constitutional amendment.

Five of the court’s seven justices ruled that the Florida Constitution provision outlawing diminishment of minority voting power violated the Equal Protection Clause of the US Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

Unlike “the Voting Rights Act, the Non-Diminishment Clause lacks features tying its continued existence to the persistence of intentional discrimination in the future,” Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz wrote in his majority opinion.

The groundbreaking ruling undermines suits ...