The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida filed a lawsuit on behalf of Grove Rights and Community Equity (GRACE), Engage Miami, the South Dade and Miami-Dade NAACP Branches, and four individual city residents challenging the Miami City Commission’s newly drawn redistricting map.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami, alleges that the Commission’s overriding goal in drawing its map was to separate racial groups into different districts as much as possible, far beyond what the Voting Rights Act requires.
The packing of Black voters into District 5, and of Hispanic voters into Districts 1, 3, and 4, is unconstitutional and diminishes those voters’ influence in adjacent districts. This racial gerrymandering does not advance representation and cannot be justified by compliance with the Voting Rights Act or another compelling interest.
The groups are asking the court to declare the maps unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment and are urging the court to issue a preliminary injunction.
