Resource: Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP v. City of Jacksonville

Together with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida and Southern Poverty Law Center, ELC is representing the Jacksonville Branch of the NAACP, the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, the Northeast Chapter of the ACLU of Florida, Florida Rising, and ten individual city residents challenging several of Jacksonville’s newly drawn City Council and School Board districts. The City Council unconstitutionally packed four City Council districts and two School Board districts with Black voters, and stripped Black voters out of adjacent districts, diminishing Black political influence in the City. On July 22, ELC, along with its collaborators, requested that the federal court issue a preliminary injunction blocking implementation of the City Council and school board districts. The injunction would provide immediate relief for Black communities, whose voices have been systematically diminished through racial gerrymandering. The court filing relies on statements and documents from the city council members themselves, along with expert analysis to give a powerful account of what racial gerrymandering has meant for residents of Jacksonville—past and present. The court is expected to hold a hearing in September on the question of whether to issue the injunction.