澳彩开奖

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.聽鈥� Today, local voting rights groups, Jacksonville residents and the Jacksonville City Council agreed to continue using maps ordered by a federal court that provide fair representation to Black communities through the next redistricting cycle after the 2030 Census. The聽court ordered聽the maps to be redrawn for the 2023 city council elections after the Jacksonville City Council twice聽failed聽to draw fair maps for the city.

This largely settles the case聽Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP vs. City of Jacksonville,听which challenged the Jacksonville City Council for drawing聽聽that 鈥減acked鈥� together Black communities and denied them a fair voice in local government. The case was聽filed聽by the聽澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖),听聽and the聽聽on behalf of local organizations including the聽, the聽, the聽,听聽and 10 individual residents.

鈥淭oday鈥檚 settlement proves that when we stand together as a community, we can overcome anyone who tries to silence our voice,鈥� said聽Rosemary McCoy, Jacksonville resident.聽鈥淣ow we have to use that voice to advocate for fair investment and fair treatment for our communities.鈥�

鈥淲e are proud of everyone in the community who stood together to strike down maps that packed Black communities together and replaced them with maps that provide us with a fair voice,鈥� said聽Mon茅 Holder, Senior Director of Advocacy & Programs of Florida Rising.聽鈥淲e look forward to continuing our grassroots advocacy to demand an equitable investment in infrastructure, equitable access to education and to ensure we always have a fair voice in our City Council.鈥�

鈥淲e are glad that Black communities will have an equal chance to bring their needs before the council and have our voice heard in city government,鈥� said聽Isaiah Rumlin, president of the Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP.聽鈥淲e remain dedicated to ensuring that the needs of the Black community are met and that maps which respect our voice will continue to be used for every election to come.鈥�

鈥淭he maps provided by today鈥檚 settlement will help our advocacy for Black communities in Jacksonville by ensuring we have a fair voice to bring their needs before the City Council,鈥� said聽Ben Frazier, president of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville聽鈥淏ut our struggle doesn鈥檛 stop here: we must ensure that all future maps also provide fair representation to Black residents so we can continue advocating for our communities in a City Council that鈥檚 willing to listen to us.鈥�

In March 2022, Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry signed into law new city council and school board maps, redrawing the voting districts for the next decade. The city council drew gerrymandered district lines that intentionally packed Black residents into only four districts out of the 14 total districts in the city: 7, 8, 9 and 10. This unnecessarily segregated the community of Jacksonville along racial lines and ensured that adjacent Districts 2, 12 and 14 had artificially large white populations.

In response, the ACLU of Florida, Harvard Election Law Clinic and the 澳彩开奖 filed a case 鈥斅�Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP vs. City of Jacksonville聽鈥� on May 3, 2022, on behalf of local activists and voting rights organizations to challenge the city council map. The litigation also challenged the racial gerrymandering of Duval County School Board Districts 4, 5 and 6, which are based on the city council districts.

鈥淭oday鈥檚 settlement ensures a fair voice for Black Jacksonville residents for years to come and we hope it represents the beginning of a new era in Jacksonville,鈥� said聽Matletha Bennette, senior staff attorney for voting rights with the 澳彩开奖. 鈥淲e hope this settlement leads to fairer investments in Black communities, better attention to the needs of the whole city and continued progress towards a city government that works for all its residents.鈥�

Daniel Hessel, Attorney and Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School鈥檚 Election Law Clinic聽said: 鈥淭his settlement cements Plaintiffs鈥� victories in court. The plaintiff-drawn map that the court ordered increases Black political power in Jacksonville for the first time in decades and fairly represents the city's communities and neighborhoods.鈥�

鈥淭oday鈥檚 settlement is the result of the tireless efforts of Black voters who have fought hard to secure fairer representation for the Jacksonville community,鈥� said聽Nicholas Warren, staff attorney for the ACLU of Florida.聽鈥淚t鈥檚 a new day for Jaxsons who have achieved a fair opportunity to influence our democracy. We will continue to safeguard the rights of voters in Jacksonville and hold the City Council accountable.鈥�

BACKGROUND

On July 22, the plaintiffs filed a preliminary injunction motion to halt the use of the maps ahead of the 2023 elections. The court granted that聽preliminary injunction聽on October 12, and the city council was required to draw and implement new maps that provide fair representation to the Black community in Jacksonville. When the city council failed to draw and implement fairer maps, the court ordered fairer maps drawn by the voting rights organizations involved in the case be used for the 2023 elections. Today, the voting rights organizations, Jacksonville residents, and the Jacksonville City Council reached a settlement to ensure those maps would be used until the next redistricting cycle after 2030.