Senate Democratic Leader Audrey Gibson (D-Jacksonville) on Thursday issued the following statement regarding the rulings today by the US Supreme Court on the citizenship and gerrymandering issues:
“I applaud the ruling blocking the Trump Administration from adding in the citizenship question to the 2020 Census. Adding that qualifier was a political ploy from the beginning, designed to deter non-citizens from responding and adding to the fear that already permeates the immigrant community. Florida is one of the states that would have been disproportionately impacted had this contrived maneuver prevailed, and I agree with Chief Justice Roberts when he wrote: ‘If judicial review is to be more than an empty ritual, it must demand something better than the explanation offered for the action taken in this case.’
“But the same cannot be said for his actions on the 5-4 gerrymandering decision. A power grab by any party is wrong. It does a grave disservice to the democratic process that citizens expect, and fuels the distrust so prevalent today.”
