While much of the focus on Governor DeSantis brazen and unprecedented foray into Congressional Redistricting had to do with potential violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, his plan as we repeatedly discussed on this site ran terribly afoul of the Fair Districts Amendment to the Constitution.

Leon County Circuit Court Judge Layne Smith, a GOP appointee ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on Wednesday, because the DeSantis map violates the State Constitution. With regards to his ruling, Judge Smith said “

“I am finding that the enacted map is unconstitutional under the Fair Districts Amendment Article 3, Section 20, because it diminishes the African Americans’ ability to select the representative of their choice,”

A written order will be issued Thursday morning.

The Judge has ordered Harvard professor Stephen Ansolabehere to draw a new map, in time for candidate qualifying which is around the corner.

Below is the Fair Districts Amendment as it sits in the constitution

Read the full complaint by the plantiffs, here.