The first of three planned special sessions of the Florida Legislature ended yesterday with Jacksonville representative Nixon and others attempting to disrupt proceedings to protest the removal of a Democrat majority and Black plurality district in North Florida.
They did delay matters, but the vote proceeded after the door was locked.  
1) We are lucky no one planned to actually be violent yesterday, because it is hard to see how the enacted map comports with either the VRA or with the Florida Constitution.  Does anyone think these new districts are good? You see the lines drawn in not just in Jacksonville but also northwest Orange County and St Petersburg, black neighborhoods are actually split. I understand that it's hard to justify putting Jacksonville's Northside and Tallahassee's westside in the same district. But this goes way beyond that. Pine Hills is separated from Apopka. It's nuts.  Folks haven't split geographically compact Black areas since the 70s.
2) The protesting representatives actually missed two votes, there was another vote to give Reedy Creek a one year expiration date after that.  Was this necessary? Will anyone benefit from that? Will they actually renew it or let it expire?

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