Weekly Roundup: Justice, peace and slavery

By DARA KAM
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, November 13, 2015…… Maybe they ought to try an Etch a Sketch.

Might those squiggly lines against a gray background --- created by twisting two knobs at the bottom of the red-framed vintage toy --- produce Senate and congressional maps that could please the courts, lawmakers and voting rights groups?

Probably not. But the wrangling in court and in the Capitol over new districts has dragged on for almost four years already, and there doesn't appear to be any end in sight, based on an incensed congresswoman's vow. So even fatigued observers who aren't Luddites might be forgiven for indulging in such make-believe.

Perhaps the Etch a Sketch might not be such a stretch, after all --- the Legislature did use bingo balls to number the districts at one point.

But it wasn't exactly fun times for an outraged U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown following oral arguments this week at the Florida Supreme Court about the congressional map.

Brown invoked a twist on an iconic phrase coined by civil-rights legend Martin Luther King Jr. that's become a rallying cry for blacks.

"There can be no justice without peace and there can be no peace without justice," King, after meeting in Santa Rita with Joan Baez and others locked up for protesting the Vietnam War, told a group holding a vigil outside the California jail in 1968. King was linking the civil rights movement with efforts to end the battle overseas.

AIN'T NO CHAINS

A vitriolic Brown blasted the Florida Supreme Court after her district, and that of another black lawmaker, were largely ignored during oral arguments Tuesday.

Brown and U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson vowed to take the fight to the federal courts, raising the prospect of more uncertainty in the nearly four-year saga about how to redraw the state's political boundaries under a voter-approved ban on political gerrymandering.

"There is no justice in this courthouse," Brown, a Jacksonville Democrat, said in a fiery speech after the hearing. "I will be going to the federal courthouse, because there is no justice and there will be no peace. We'll go all the way to the United States Supreme Court."

The more-subdued oral arguments in the courtroom focused on whether justices should stick with a map drawn by voting-rights groups and recommended by Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis. Lewis approved the plan over separate submissions from the House and the Senate, which failed to agree on a map during a special session in August.

The Supreme Court in July struck down the current congressional districts for violating the "Fair Districts" standards approved by voters in 2010. That led to the failed special session and, ultimately, to Lewis recommending the new map to justices.

Outside the courtroom, Brown and Congresswoman Frederica Wilson railed against changes to their districts in the plan recommended by Lewis.

Brown fiercely denounced the Supreme Court, continuing to insist that the new version of her district --- which President Barack Obama carried by more than 28 points in 2012 --- would not elect an African-American Democrat.

The new version would go from Jacksonville to the Tallahassee area, a substantial change from the current configuration that stretches from Jacksonville to Orlando.

"What has happened is that it is clear that you all think that slavery still exists and we can just take those slaves and put them in one area and forget about the people who didn't have representation for 129 years," Brown said. "That's OK. They don't need representation. …You think that you can just take us like we're slaves and move the slave boundaries up north."

Brown said she would revive a federal challenge to the districts under the Voting Rights Act. Brown's lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Florida, has been stayed while both sides wait on the decision from the Florida justices. Wilson, who is from Miami, said she would join Brown's suit.

MEANWHILE, IN OTHER NEWS …

Gov. Rick Scott on Thursday wrapped up a four-day tour of the state by maintaining that Florida has enough money to cover his requests for $1 billion in tax cuts and $250 million in corporate incentives without cutting state services.

Appearing at Merrick Industries, Inc., a waterfront manufacturing plant in Lynn Haven, Scott continued to urge businesses to lobby lawmakers for his proposed tax cuts and economic incentives. Also Thursday, he focused on a new initiative challenging state colleges to more than double graduation rates without getting additional cash from the state or hiking tuition.

"I don't want tuition to go up. I don't want fees to go up," Scott added. "I want to make sure that every student knows what their textbooks are going to cost before they sign up for a class. I want to make sure any capital dollars we put into the system we get a return. Do you know what the return should be? It should be good-paying jobs."

Scott sees the tax cuts and increased incentive money as a step in reducing the state's dependence on construction and tourism as core industries. In pushing the ideas, he uses numbers from his budget chief that paint a rosier outlook for the state's fiscal future than state economists have predicted.

On Monday, Scott's Office of Policy & Budget Director Cynthia Kelly wrote that rather than the $635.4 million surplus state economists have predicted for the next fiscal year, "a more appropriate 'surplus' " is $1.6 billion.

"We've cut taxes 50 times and guess what's happening? Revenues are growing," Scott said Thursday. "Revenues are growing because people are moving here. Businesses are prospering here."

Scott went to Lynn Haven after earlier in the day rolling out a "Ready, Set, Work" proposal challenging the 28 state colleges --- traditionally known as community colleges --- to reach 100 percent graduation rates, with all students finding work or moving on to four-year universities. Currently the average state-college graduation rate is 43 percent.

"I'm going to challenge all of them to figure how to do this less expensively," Scott told reporters. "I've been in business all my life. Nobody came to my office and said 'I want to pay you more money for something.' They always were asking me for a reduction in price. I had to figure how to do it less expensively."

STORY OF THE WEEK: The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments about a proposed congressional map, prompting two black U.S. representatives to vow to challenge the plan in federal court.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "You think that you can just take us like we're slaves and move the slave boundaries up north." U.S. Rep. Corinne Brown, a black lawmaker from Jacksonville, objecting to a proposed congressional map under review by the Florida Supreme Court.