Ron DeSantis makes DANGEROUS announcement
YouTube · wJJo65Nn6RU
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Summary
Takeaways
- ❖Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called a special session to redraw congressional maps, aiming for a 23 Republican, 5 Democratic seat distribution.
- ❖This proposed map is significantly more partisan than the previous 20 Republican, 8 Democratic map and the historical 16 Republican, 11 Democratic map.
- ❖Florida's state constitution includes 'Fair Districts' amendments, passed by voters, explicitly prohibiting partisan gerrymandering and consideration of incumbency.
- ❖The current Florida Supreme Court, largely composed of DeSantis appointees, has previously approved gerrymandered maps, raising concerns about legal challenges to the new proposal.
- ❖Democrats are urged to aggressively pursue redistricting in states where they hold power to counteract Republican gerrymandering efforts nationwide.
Insights
1DeSantis Initiates Special Session for Aggressive Gerrymander
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a special legislative session to redraw the state's congressional map, aiming to increase Republican representation from 20 seats to 23, reducing Democratic seats from 8 to 5. This would result in a 23 Republican, 5 Democratic map, which the guest describes as a 'grotesque gerrymander' given Florida's competitive political landscape.
Ronda Santis is said that he is going to call a special session to rejerrymander the already very gerrymandered congressional map in that state... he passed a 20 Republican, eight Democratic seat map. ... Ronda Santis wants to squeeze another three Republican seats... you would go to a 23 Republican five Democratic seat map in Florida.
2Violation of Florida's Constitutional Fair Districts Amendments
Florida's state constitution contains 'Fair Districts' amendments, approved by over 60% of voters, which explicitly prohibit considering party affiliation or protecting incumbents when drawing electoral maps. DeSantis's proposed map directly contravenes these voter-mandated provisions.
There is a provision in the state constitution of Florida that prohibits considering party in drawing maps, that prohibits uh uh taking into account incumbency protection in drawing maps. ... This was put in place by the voters of Florida. Like, they passed a ballot initiative in Florida that had to get 60% of the vote and did in order to prevent Ronda Santis from engaging in partisan gerrymandering.
3Impact of a Partisan State Supreme Court
The ability of Florida Republicans to bypass constitutional prohibitions stems from a dramatically changed state Supreme Court, now 'overwhelmingly dominated' by DeSantis appointees. This court has previously approved gerrymandered maps, making legal challenges difficult, though the guest believes the proposed map might be too extreme even for this court.
The composition of the state supreme court has changed dramatically. It is now a court overwhelmingly dominated if not entirely composed of people appointed by Rondais. And so they frankly... didn't do what they were supposed to do in the last go-around in approving these maps.
4Call for Aggressive Democratic Redistricting
The guest advocates for every state run by Democrats to aggressively redistrict their maps, fighting 'fire with fire' against Republican gerrymandering. This strategy emphasizes creative approaches and the elimination of 'sacred cows' to ensure fair representation and counteract the power imbalance.
Every state run by Democrats should redistrict. Every one of them. And they should find a way. And you know, they need to be as creative as they need to be and there should be no sacred cows and and like that's what we need because that's what democracy calls for.
Bottom Line
The current political climate, characterized by leaders like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, has broken traditional norms in judicial appointments, prioritizing loyalists over impartial judges. This shift undermines the judicial system's intended checks and balances.
This erosion of judicial independence means that state constitutions and voter-approved protections can be openly defied by politically aligned courts, leaving limited recourse for citizens and legal challengers.
Legal strategies must adapt to this new reality, potentially seeking federal claims where state courts are compromised, and advocating for reforms in judicial appointment processes to restore impartiality.
Lessons
- Support organizations like Democracy Docket (founded by guest Mark Elias) that engage in litigation and advocacy against partisan gerrymandering.
- Advocate for state-level constitutional amendments or independent commissions that remove redistricting power from partisan legislatures.
- Engage with and pressure Democratic state governors and legislators to aggressively pursue redistricting in their states to balance the playing field against Republican gerrymandering.
- Stay informed about state-level election law changes and judicial appointments, as these significantly impact the fairness of electoral maps.
Quotes
"This would be not just a grotesque gerrymander. This would be this would rank up in the annals of histories of one of the most disgraceful political acts that we have seen."
"Florida is a fundamentally competitive state. It is a competitive state that in recent years Republicans have been winning, but they're not winning by 30 percentage points."
"There is a provision in the state constitution of Florida that prohibits considering party in drawing maps, that prohibits taking into account incumbency protection in drawing maps. Yeah. The other thing is, Brian, this was put in place by the voters of Florida."
"The judicial system in this country assumed that there would be certain norms... that would be used when appointing judges and justices. And what Donald Trump did is he broke that. He just said basically, I don't care. I'm going to put loyalists in every position."
"Every state run by Democrats should redistrict. Every one of them. And they should find a way. And you know, they need to be as creative as they need to be and there should be no sacred cows and and like that's what we need because that's what democracy calls for."
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