Update on the racial gerrymandering case brought against the City of Miami. Trial testimony concluded yesterday. At issue are now "updated" voting maps, which have been challenged as unconstitutional. If the plaintiffs win, another map would be drawn.
Although a number of expert witnesses testified on statistical analyses and Miami's demographics, Judge Moore came back to statements made during public commission hearings. Judge Moore said that, in light of those statements, "it's really hard to get around the conclusion that race was" involved in the map drawing process.
Back in 2022, Commissioner Joe Carollo said the point of creating single-member districts was to ensure “there would be an African American sitting in this commission and there would be an Anglo” and “that there were three Hispanic districts.”
Commissioner Manolo Reyes also said “yes, we are gerrymandering to preserve those seats,” apparently referencing the five-person Commission.
“The problem that I have been confronted with," Judge Moore said, is "not so much the statistical or circumstantial evidence that we’ve heard a lot about in the past two days. It was the direct evidence in those commission hearings that we’re well familiar with.”
The Herald covers it here.
The problem is the tension in the law between, on the one hand, a prohibition against drawing racially driven lines, and on the other hand, a mandate to draw lines to guarantee black representation on the commission.
ReplyDeleteMost of these commissioners are jackasses and the shenanigans at play in this process have been legion. But I think that, notwithstanding the rest of the BS, they are justifiably confused about the standard when it comes to race.
Miami...so diverse and so racist at the same time....amazing how folks can hate dark skin so much...caste system alive and well there!
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