The Florida congressional map Ron DeSantis drew in an apparent effort to dilute the Black vote was blocked Wednesday as “unconstitutional” — by a federal judge the governor himself appointed. “The enacted map is unconstitutional under the Fair District amendment,” Leon County Circuit Court Judge Layne Smith said Wednesday, striking down part of DeSantis’ so-called “race neutral” map and ordering a replacement from Harvard University professor Stephen Ansolabehere, a witness for the plaintiff. “It diminishes African-Americans’ ability to elect the representative of their choice.”
The decision, which the governor’s office says it will challenge when it is formally entered, will kick off a significant legal fight in the key battleground state that is expected to go all the way up to the state Supreme Court.
