During opening arguments, Greg Baker, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the case is “purely about racial discrimination,” which he sought to pin on DeSantis. He said the former District 5, which stretched from Jacksonville to west of Tallahassee, was split up last year and absorbed into four districts.
But Mohammad Jazil, an attorney for the state, said the redistricting plan was driven by issues such as making districts compact and following geographic and political boundaries, such as significant waterways and city boundaries. He also challenged the notion that the plaintiffs could show the map was motivated by racial discrimination.The trial is expected to last at least through part of next week.
Marsh said the plan violated a 2010 state constitutional amendment known as the Fair Districts Amendment, which set standards for redistricting. Part of that amendment barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.” The Republican-controlled Legislature passed the plan during a special session after DeSantis vetoed a proposal that could have led to electing a Black candidate in District 5, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argue.
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