Jacksonville City Council to appeal federal judge ruling

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Council President Terrance Freeman says the counsel will begin a new redistricting process immediately during the appeal process.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — After a 90-minute closed door meeting, Jacksonville City Council will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that orders the counsel to throw out its district voting map.

“The Council disagrees with the outcome of the Court order,” said City Council President Terrance Freeman. “Therefore, we have directed the Office of General Counsel to appeal the decision. While we await the appeal, the Council will begin a new redistricting process immediately given the court order and the short window established by the District Court.”

The decision comes a few days after the judge sided with local civil rights groups and voters who said the redistricting maps were racially gerrymandered, a violation of the constitution.

“While I’m not convinced that an appeal would get very far, I am open to re-entering a process for drawing new maps,” said Councilmember Matt Carlucci in a statement. “And it is my hope that the outcome is two-fold—that district maps will better reflect the diversity of our residents and Council members will be held accountable to a broader range of citizens.”

RELATED: Federal judge finds Jacksonville City Council, School Board districts were likely racially gerrymandered

The new district map paints a painful picture for one local pastor.

“It’s history coming back over and over again repeating itself that if I can place everyone in one basket I’ll know where they are, and I’ll give them the strength of that one basket while we take the rest of the community,” said Elder Lee Harris, Pastor at Mount Olive Primitive Baptist Church.

“City officials have no business wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars to go back to court to fight their own constituents,” said Ben Frazier of the Northside Coalition. “… It’s the city’s duty to draw legal map that affords all Jacksonville residents equal representation. If they abdicate that duty, we will continue working with the court to ensure Jaxsons have a fair map for the 2023 elections.”

RELATED: Jacksonville’s new voting districts goes before judge