JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Groups that successfully challenged the constitutionality of Florida's congressional districts are asking that a federal court sanction U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown and her attorneys because of a continuing legal fight.
The League of Women Voters of Florida, Common Cause Florida and other individual parties filed the request Wednesday, little more than a week after a three-judge panel rejected Brown's arguments that her redrawn district violates the federal Voting Rights Act.
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Brown's attorneys filed a notice this week that they will take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The League of Women Voters and Common Cause spearheaded a lawsuit that led to the Florida Supreme Court finding that the state's current congressional districts violated the anti-gerrymandering "Fair Districts" standards approved by voters in 2010.
That led to a new map, which dramatically reshaped Brown's district. She then pursued a challenge in federal court. In the motion filed Wednesday, the groups contended that Brown's claims are "frivolous" and that sanctions should be imposed against Brown and her attorneys.
The motion requests that Brown and her attorneys pay the groups' legal fees. "This case is an egregious addition to a long and sad pattern,'' the motion said. "Alongside efforts of the Republican-led Legislature, Congresswoman Brown has repeatedly followed and launched unsuccessful attacks on Florida's redistricting reform efforts."