Florida House of Representatives v. League of Women Voters of Florida

118 So. 3d 198, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 565, 2013 WL 3466819, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 1427
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedJuly 11, 2013
DocketNo. SC13-252
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 118 So. 3d 198 (Florida House of Representatives v. League of Women Voters of Florida) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Florida House of Representatives v. League of Women Voters of Florida, 118 So. 3d 198, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 565, 2013 WL 3466819, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 1427 (Fla. 2013).

Opinions

PARIENTE, J.

The Florida Legislature has filed a petition for writ of prohibition or in the alternative to invoke this Court’s constitutional authority to issue all writs necessary to the complete exercise of its jurisdiction, seeking to prevent a circuit court from hearing a lawsuit that challenges the validity of the 2012 plan apportioning districts for the Florida Senate.1 We have jurisdiction to consider the extraordinary writs, and both sides in this case agree that this Court, rather than the First District Court of Appeal, should review the petition. See art. V, § 3(b)(7), Fla. Const.

The crux of the issue presented by the Legislature’s petition for extraordinary writ relief is whether , this Court has exclusive jurisdiction over redistricting challenges that assert violations of article III, [200]*200section 21, of the Florida Constitution, and whether that jurisdiction is limited to the decisions rendered by this Court during the initial thirty-day period of review mandated by article III, section 16, of the Florida Constitution. Last year, we reviewed the 2012 legislative apportionment plan under our article III, section 16, jurisdiction, ultimately upholding its validity after initially invalidating the Senate map. See In re Senate Joint Resolution of Legislative Apportionment 2-B (“Apportionment II”), 89 So.3d 872 (Fla.2012); In re Senate Joint Resolution of Legislative Apportionment 1176 (“Apportionment I ”), 83 So.3d 597 (Fla.2012).

The Legislature’s view is that once the apportionment plan is validated through this Court’s article III, section 16, review, no further challenges can be brought— either in this Court or in the circuit court — alleging violations of the constitutional redistricting standards enumerated in article III, section 21. Specifically, the Legislature contends that this Court’s 2012 review of the legislative apportionment plan in Apportionment I and Apportionment II foreclosed all future challenges to the constitutionality of the plan under the Florida Constitution, thereby barring the circuit court complaint in this case.

For the reasons more fully explained below, we reject the Legislature’s argument and deny the extraordinary writ petition because this Court has never interpreted its article III, section 16, review as granting this Court exclusive jurisdiction over all claims relating to legislative apportionment and limiting its jurisdiction to consider those claims to an initial thirty-day review period. Instead, under its interpretation of article III, section 16, this Court has always conducted a facial review of the validity of the legislative apportionment plan and has consistently contemplated the possibility of subsequent fact-based challenges to the plan. Further, specifically with respect to the declaratory judgment language in article III, section 16(d), this Court has always rendered a declaratory judgment that is binding only as to the facial validity of the plan, which could never preclude subsequent fact-based challenges.

While the 2010 introduction of express new standards into the Florida Constitution to govern the redistricting process changed the extent of this Court’s article III, section 16, review — in that the Court is now constitutionally required to conduct a more in-depth review of an apportionment plan to effectuate the intent of the voters who enacted the article III, section 21, standards in 2010 — the new standards did not change the fundamental nature of this Court’s initial thirty-day review. In 2012, our review under article III, section 16, remained the same as it has always been — a facial review based on objective, undisputed evidence in the limited record before the Court.

Accordingly, although this Court endeavored to fulfill its constitutional obligation in Apportionment I and Apportionment II to conduct a meaningful review of the 2012 legislative apportionment plan and to provide guidance regarding the proper interpretation of the new constitutional standards, our precedent remains clear that subsequent challenges based on factual evidence not considered or available in this Court’s initial thirty-day review may be brought and argued in a court of competent jurisdiction. In other words, our recognition and awareness of the importance of providing stability to the plan given an imminent election in 2012-includ-ing, as the Florida Constitution explicitly contemplates, allowing the Legislature to correct obvious deficiencies in the Senate map apparent on the face of the record in Apportionment I — did not alter our estab[201]*201lished precedent. Consistent with our pri- or cases, our facial review left open the possibility of future fact-intensive claims and did not preclude the future discovery or development of evidence, which could never have been a part of this Court’s limited record under our article III, section 16, review, that would demonstrate a violation of the standards the Florida voters enacted in 2010. We therefore hold that the circuit court has subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate fact-based challenges to the validity of the 2012 legislative apportionment plan, that the circuit court’s exercise of jurisdiction in this case will not interfere with the binding judgment of this Court, and that the Legislature thus has not met its burden of demonstrating entitlement to relief.

FACTS AND BACKGROUND

In 2010, the Florida voters approved an amendment to the Florida Constitution providing for express new state constitutional standards to govern the once-in-a-decade apportionment of legislative districts. These standards, now enumerated in article III, section 21, of the Florida Constitution, are set forth in two tiers, with each tier containing three requirements. The first tier provides: (1) that no apportionment plan or district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; (2) that districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice; and (3) that districts shall consist of contiguous territory. Art. Ill, § 21(a), Fla. Const. The second tier lists three additional requirements, which are subordinate to the requirements in the first tier and to federal law in the event of a conflict: (1) districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; (2) districts shall be compact; and (3) districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries. Art. Ill, § 21(b), Fla. Const.

With these new, expanded state constitutional standards in place, the Legislature during its 2012 session engaged in its onee-in-a-decade process of creating new district boundaries for the state’s 120 House of Representatives and 40 Senate districts. This legislative reapportionment process culminated on February 9, 2012, in the approval of a joint resolution of legislative apportionment. The next day, as required by article III, section 16(c), of the Florida Constitution, the Attorney General petitioned this Court for a declaratory judgment to determine the validity of the Legislature’s apportionment plan as enacted.

In Apportionment I,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
118 So. 3d 198, 38 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 565, 2013 WL 3466819, 2013 Fla. LEXIS 1427, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/florida-house-of-representatives-v-league-of-women-voters-of-florida-fla-2013.