A disputed map that is allegedly racially gerrymandered was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court and, as a result, will be used in Miami’s Nov. 7 elections.
On Aug. 17 in Grove Rights and Community Equity Inc. v. City of Miami, GRACE was denied an emergency application to vacate a stay implemented by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on the Southern District of Florida's July 30 interim remedial redistricting plan.
“The Eleventh Circuit’s contrary ruling relied upon false representations by the City to hold that administrative burdens would befall the County if it used the Court’s Plan when in fact significantly greater burdens are caused by the City’s Remedial Plan,” wrote ACLU of Florida Attorney Daniel B. Tilley in Grace’s emergency application. “All Miamians face irreparable harm if the November 2023 election are conducted under districts the city drew explicitly to impose racial balancing.”
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| League of Women Voters Florida
As previously reported, the request for a stay was referred to the court en banc by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas but the court refused to review it without comment, and in doing so, upheld the displacement of one commissioner from the district where he’d resided for twenty years.
"The Supreme Court denies review of so many cases," said Cecile Scoon, board president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. "It's really hard. They don't just select cases that are on a particular topic. They select cases where generally they can really make a big difference and set a standard for the entire nation. This Miami case may have just have been too local."
The underlying 2022 lawsuit stems from the redistricting of five city council, also known as commission, seats based on race and the districts in which the candidates live. The plaintiffs allege the redistricting resulted in illegal racial gerrymander.
"The City Commission engaged in egregious, explicit, and unapologetic race-based sorting of its residents," Tilly stated. "This is not a case where Applicants cobbled together circumstantial evidence to suggest an inference of racial predominance. Rather, commissioners brazenly explained over the course of a half-dozen public meetings that Miami’s City Commission must continue to have three Hispanic seats, one Black seat, and one “Anglo” (non-Hispanic white) seat. The Commission instructed its redistricting consultant to make that happen. He did."
Carrie McNamara, staff attorney at the ACLU of Florida, told the Epoch Times that the U.S. Supreme Court decision is disheartening, and a blow to both democracy and Miami residents.
“Unfortunately, that Court has chosen to temporarily permit blatantly gerrymandered maps that divide our communities along racial lines, compromising our right to fair representation," she said. "This decision has taken us a step back, stripping Miami residents of their voice and ability to be adequately represented, regardless of their race.”