MIAMI – The long-awaited federal trial centered on Miami’s contentious voting maps began Monday with a series of plaintiffs’ witnesses testifying as to why they have standing to bring the complaint against the city.
In 2022, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Florida branch, representing several individuals and groups, including Engage Miami and the NAACP, filed the suit against the city of Miami in U.S. District Court alleging that “the Commission’s overriding goal in drawing its map was to separate racial groups into different districts as much as possible, far beyond what the Voting Rights Act requires.”
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In their complaint, the plaintiffs argue that the city commission districts are unconstitutional. “This racial gerrymandering,” ACLU of Florida stated in a news release at the time, “does not advance representation and cannot be justified by compliance with the Voting Rights Act or another compelling interest.”
“In previous rulings denying motions to dismiss and for judgment in favor of the city, the magistrate and district court judge have found that the plaintiffs had standing and had made a sufficient showing for the case to move forward,” legal analyst David Weinstein said.
City attorneys have denied their allegations.
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The start of Monday’s federal bench trial came just days after city commissioners unanimously decided to direct outgoing city attorney Victoria Mendez “to exhaust all options and opportunities for settlement in regard to the redistricting lawsuits.”
During Thursday’s meeting, District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo, who sponsored the resolution, said he wants the city to “everything possible so we don’t continue proceedings and keep accruing legal costs which would be significant in a trial.”
Later in that meeting, Mendez read into the record a request for a “shade meeting”, an attorney-client session at 10 a.m. on Feb. 8, related to pending redistricting litigation.
“The subject of the meeting will be confined to settlement negotiations or strategy discussions,” she said.
The session would be attended by commissioners, the city manager, members of the city attorney’s office and outside attorneys Christopher Johnson and George Levesque of Gray-Robinson.
A court reporter will be present at the February meeting, Mendez said, and the transcript will be “made public upon the conclusion of the litigation.”
Johnson and Levesque were representing the city of Miami during Monday’s proceedings in federal court.
On Monday, Judge K. Michael Moore Monday heard from a Harvard-educated and award-winning statistician who testified as a redistricting expert, as well as various case plaintiffs, including Miami resident Jared Johnson, who said he joined the suit to fight for fair and equitable elections.
Rev. Nathaniel Robinson III also testified, speaking on behalf of Grove Rights and Community Equity, Inc. — also known as GRACE — where he once chaired its board.
Robinson, the pastor of Greater St. Paul African Methodist Church in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighborhood, told the court he hoped the suit would accomplish “equity” — which he defined as equal representation for the entire city.
The Reverend said Miami’s initial voting map worried him when he saw the intent to divide one of Miami’s oldest neighborhoods, Coconut Grove, into three different commission districts.
He testified that would make it hard for the group to “have an impact”.
He said GRACE is comprised of churches, civic groups, homeowners, and tenants with deep roots in the community.
West Grove was founded in the 1880′s by Bahamian residents.
The federal bench trial is expected to last a little more than a week.
“So now the case proceeds forward and the plaintiffs have to present their evidence to the judge for him to now make a formal and final ruling on whether they have meet their burden of proof,” Weinstein said. “Based on the last proceedings of the city commission, they will be undertaking a parallel effort to resolve this and submit a constitutionally-valid redistricting plan.”