Initial Brief of League of Women Voters

IN THE SUPREME COURT FOR THE STATE OF FLORIDA ______________________________ ) IN RE: JOINT RESOLUTION ) OF LEGISLATIVE ) CASE NO. SC12-460 APPORTIONMENT ) ______________________________ ) BRIEF OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF FLORIDA, THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF LA RAZA, AND COMMON CAUSE FLORIDA IN OPPOSITION TO THE LEGISLATURE’S JOINT RESOLUTION OF LEGISLATIVE APPORTIONMENT Ronald G. Meyer Paul M. Smith* Florida Bar No. 0148248 [email protected] MEYER, BROOKS, DEMMA AND Michael B. DeSanctis* BLOHM P.A. [email protected] 131 North Gadsden Street Jessica Ring Amunson * Post Office Box 1547 [email protected] Tallahassee, Florida 32302 Kristen M. Rogers* Telephone: (850) 878-5212 [email protected] *Pro hac vice pending J. Gerald Hebert* JENNER & BLOCK, LLP [email protected] 1099 New York Ave NW, Suite 900 *Pro hac vice pending Washington, DC 20001 191 Somervelle Street, #415 Telephone: (202) 639-6000 Alexandria, VA 22304 Telephone: (703) 628-4673 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CITATIONS ......................................................................................... ii STATEMENT OF INTEREST .................................................................................. 1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 2 STATEMENT OF CASE AND FACTS ................................................................... 4 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENT ................................................................................. 8 ARGUMENT ............................................................................................................. 9 I. THE SENATE‘S PLAN DEMONSTRATES BLATANT PARTISAN AND INCUMBENT FAVORITISM AND DOES NOT COMPORT WITH ARTICLE III, SECTION 21 AS INTERPRETED BY THIS COURT. ........................................................................................................... 9 II. INDIVIDUAL DISTRICTS IN THE SENATE‘S PLAN ARE DRAWN TO FAVOR THE CONTROLLING PARTY AND INCUMBENTS. ............................................................................................14 III. THIS COURT IS REQUIRED TO APPORTION THE DISTRICTS. .........42 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................44 CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE .......................................................................50 i TABLE OF CITATIONS CASES Brown v. Secretary of Florida, 668 F.3d 1271 (11th Cir. 2012) ............................. 42 DeGrandy v. Wetherell, 794 F. Supp. 1076 (N.D. Fla. 1992) ................................. 43 League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, 548 U.S. 399 (2006) ............. 43 Martinez v. Bush, 234 F. Supp. 2d 1275 (S.D. Fla. 2002) ....................................... 14 In re Senate Joint Resolution of Legislative Apportionment 1176, No. SC12- 1, --- So. 3d ----, 2012 WL 753122 (Fla. Mar. 9, 2012) ..............................passim CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS Fla. Const., art. III, § 16(f) ................................................................................... 3, 43 LEGISLATIVE MATERIALS Tr. of Senate Reapportionment Cmte. Mtg. (March 20, 2012) ............................. 4-5 Tr. of Senate Floor Debate (March 22, 2012) ..................................5, 6, 7, 18, 30, 31 OTHER AUTHORITIES Florida Division of Elections, http://election.dos.state.fl.us/elections/ resultsarchive/Index.asp ...................................................................................... 13 Florida Division of Elections, Candidate Listing for 2012 General Election, http://election.dos.state.fl.us/candidate/CanList.asp, last visited April 6, 2012 ................................................................................................... 18, 27, 30, 38 Denise Grimsley for State Senate, http://www.denisegrimsley.com/ ..................... 29 Bill Galvano for State Senate, Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bill-Galvano-for-State- Senate/93037564339#!/pages/Bill-Galvano-for-State- Senate/93037564339?sk=wall, last visited March 28, 2012 .............................. 29 http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Redistricting/ ........................................................ 4 ii Mary Ellen Klas, Florida Senate Approves Second Redistricting Plan, TAMPA BAY TIMES, March 23, 2012, http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/national/florida-senate- approves-second-redistricting-plan/1221407 ..................................................... 21 Mary Ellen Klas, Senate revamps redistricting map, BRADENTON HERALD, March 23, 2012 ................................................................................................... 21 Brandon Larrabee, Florida Senators Face Decisions On Careers, NEWS- PRESS, March 23, 2012, http://www.news- press.com/article/20120323/NEWS0107/120323022/Florida-senators- face-decisions-careers?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome .............. 21 George Meros, Oral Argument, Case No. SC12-1 (Fla. Feb. 29, 2012) ................. 11 Peter Schorsch, Am I missing something or are Bill Galvano and Denise Grimsley drawn in the same Senate district?, SAINTPETERSBLOG, Mar. 19, 2012, http://saintpetersblog.com/2012/03/am-i-missing- something-or-are-bill-galvano-and-denise-grimsley-drawn-in-the-same- senate-district/ ..................................................................................................... 29 Peter Schorsch, Mike Fasano Endorses John Legg To Be His Successor for State Senate, SAINTPETERSBLOG, Oct. 13, 2011, http://saintpetersblog.com/2011/10/mike-fasano-endorses-john-legg-to- be-his-successor-for-state-senate/ ....................................................................... 27 iii STATEMENT OF INTEREST The League of Women Voters of Florida (LWV) is a nonpartisan organization founded in 1939 to promote active citizenship through informed and engaged participation in government. The League was one of the primary proponents of the FairDistricts Amendments and its members have been actively engaged in the redistricting process. Common Cause Florida (CCF) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization founded as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest. Common Cause Florida was also a primary proponent of the FairDistricts Amendments and its members have been actively engaged in the redistricting process. The National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, working to improve opportunities for Hispanic Americans through community-based organizations. NCLR (formerly Democracia, Inc.) was one of the primary proponents of the FairDistricts Amendments and its members were actively engaged in the redistricting process to try to get the Florida State Legislature to comply with the amendments, particularly the amendments‘ provisions for minority rights. 1 INTRODUCTION In its March 9, 2012 decision, this Court ―declare[d] the plan apportioning the districts for the Florida Senate to be constitutionally invalid under the Florida Constitution‖ and tasked the Legislature with ―adopting a new joint resolution of apportionment ‗conforming to the judgment of the supreme court‘ as set forth in article III, section 16(d).‖ In re Senate Joint Resolution of Legislative Apportionment 1176, No. SC12-1, --- So. 3d ----, 2012 WL 753122, at *1 (Fla. Mar. 9, 2012) (hereinafter ―Op.‖). As is set forth below, the Legislature‘s new Senate plan does not conform to the judgment of this Court, but rather flouts that judgment by once again engaging in blatant incumbent protection and partisan gamesmanship. The Senate has persisted in its disregard for the constitutional mandates of compactness and utilization of political and geographical boundaries in order to draw districts that will keep incumbent Senators in office, assist incumbent House members with election to the Senate, and make gains for the Republican Party. This Court once again has a ―weighty obligation to measure the Legislature‘s Joint Resolution with a very specific constitutional yardstick,‖ Op. at *76, and once again the Senate‘s plan must be found lacking. Pursuant to this Court‘s scheduling order of March 13, 2012, the LWVF, CCF, and NCLR (the ―Coalition‖) submit this brief in opposition to the 2 Legislature‘s Joint Resolution of Legislative Apportionment. Together with this brief, the Coalition has submitted an alternative districting plan that shows how the Senate could have complied with this Court‘s decision interpreting the mandates of Article III, Section 21. See App. Tab A.1 Following this Court‘s decision on March 9th, the Coalition undertook to draw a new apportionment plan for the Senate that would fully comply with and implement this Court‘s interpretation of Article III, Section 21. The Coalition used the last enacted plan, S9008, as its starting point and applied this Court‘s holdings to that plan. The Coalition submitted its alternative plan, SPUBS0178, to the Senate‘s redistricting website on April 4, 2012.2 Pursuant to Article III, Section 16(f) if this Court ―determine[s] that the apportionment made [by the Legislature] is invalid, the court shall, not later than sixty days after receiving the petition of the attorney general, file with the custodian of state records an order making such apportionment.‖ Fla. Const., art. III, § 16(f). The Coalition respectfully suggests that in making such apportionment, this Court should use the Coalition‘s plan submitted

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