Judge Approves Voting-Rights Groups' Senate Map
A state Senate redistricting plan favored by voting-rights organizations was approved Wednesday by a Leon County judge in a move that could shake the Republican Party's grip on power in the Capitol.
Watch CBS News
A state Senate redistricting plan favored by voting-rights organizations was approved Wednesday by a Leon County judge in a move that could shake the Republican Party's grip on power in the Capitol.
The Senate redistricting chief on Wednesday defended a proposed map of the chamber's 40 districts, telling a Leon County judge that it was happenstance that the plan submitted to the court by the Republican-dominated Senate was one of the best for the GOP.
The decisions prompting state Senate leaders to choose a redistricting plan they recommended to a Leon County judge took center stage Monday, the first day of a trial to determine whether that map should go to the Florida Supreme Court.
A Leon County judge and lawyers for the Legislature and voting-rights organizations on Tuesday began muddling through the legal process for deciding on a new set of districts for the 40-member state Senate.
A coalition of voting-rights organizations has withdrawn two state Senate redistricting proposals it had submitted to a Leon County judge, virtually ensuring that at least one district will cross Tampa Bay when the legal fight ends.
After a second consecutive redistricting session fell apart Thursday and the Legislature went home yet again without passing a map, lawmakers' message was more or less: We told you so.
A last-ditch effort to keep the courts from drawing state Senate districts collapsed Thursday, as senators voted down a plan proposed by the House and a special session called to draw the lines crashed to an end.
A veteran from Florida got an alarming notification in regards to his Veterans Affairs benefits.
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to approve a redistricting plan for the state Senate, setting up the delicate endgame for a three-week special session called to finally bring Florida's political boundaries into line with a voter-approved ban on gerrymandering.
The House redistricting committee voted along party lines Monday to approve its version of new districts for the state Senate, potentially setting up a battle with the upper chamber as a special session on the map entered its final week.
The political realities of redistricting burst into the open Tuesday, as the Senate approved a proposal increasing the Hispanic share of three of the chamber's South Florida seats over objections from Democrats who argued the move was an attempt to prevent incumbents from running against each other.
One day before a high-stakes committee meeting, there were few signs Thursday that state senators were any closer to agreement on how the chamber's 40 districts should be drawn or numbered to comply with a voter-approved constitutional amendment banning political gerrymandering.
The chairman of the state Senate committee charged with redrawing districts for the 40-member chamber released his proposed draft of the map late Wednesday, as Republican discontent with a plan for whether and when members would have to run for re-election continued to brew.
If only it was as simple as "X" marks the spot. Because if it was, the Florida Legislature wouldn't have to meet for the third special session of the year to draw up new maps for 40 state Senate districts.
House and Senate lawyers tore into the map a Leon County judge recommended the state use in the 2016 congressional elections, arguing that the Florida Supreme Court should instead go with one of three plans submitted by lawmakers.
The Legislature on Wednesday released six draft maps of Senate districts for a special session that begins next week, opening up the next phase of a long-running battle over Florida's congressional and legislative lines.
The Miami Marlins announced something on Tuesday that most people have known for a while already.
Legislative aides who drew a map of congressional districts backed by the state House defended the plan in court Thursday, even as they conceded that other alternatives might also be good maps or have positive qualities.
After successfully arguing that a congressional map drawn by the Legislature impermissibly favored Republicans, voting-rights groups and voters have offered four sets of proposed districts that were discussed with Democratic-leaning consultants, according to court papers filed Tuesday.
Police say a former University of South Florida football player has died in a stabbing outside a Ybor City nightclub.
A key state senator floated a last-ditch effort Thursday to strike a compromise with the House on new congressional districts, while voting-rights groups that challenged the current congressional map called for the Florida Supreme Court to take over the process.
A local company agreed to fly an injured South Florida student, stuck in Cuba, back home.
A Florida man has been arrested after he appeared in a video stealing a Confederate flag from the outside of a Tampa Bay-area home, authorities said.
Authorities said a Tampa Bay area man is facing an animal cruelty charge after he allegedly beat his family's pet dachshund to death with a flashlight.
Members of Congress along with some Florida lawmakers blasted the first draft of a new set of Florida congressional districts.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash was reported just before 4:30 a.m. on the Florida Turnpike near mile marker 12.
A Miami-based company created a new robotic dental assistant that's taking much of guesswork out of dental implants.
A South Beach street will be renamed for Naomi Wilzig, the late founder of the World Erotic Art Museum, whose work challenged cultural boundaries and preserved global erotic art.
A car crashed into an Oakland Park building, damaging a local business and leaving its future uncertain.
A volunteer convoy from Miami braved travel restrictions to bring medical supplies and food to Cuba.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash was reported just before 4:30 a.m. on the Florida Turnpike near mile marker 12.
A Miami-based company created a new robotic dental assistant that's taking much of guesswork out of dental implants.
A South Beach street will be renamed for Naomi Wilzig, the late founder of the World Erotic Art Museum, whose work challenged cultural boundaries and preserved global erotic art.
A car crashed into an Oakland Park building, damaging a local business and leaving its future uncertain.
A volunteer convoy from Miami braved travel restrictions to bring medical supplies and food to Cuba.
In courtroom testimony, Shandelle Maycock recounted the harrowing night her daughter was abandoned in the Everglades, describing the horrors they endured.
A former prison guard trainee has been sentenced to death for the 2019 execution-style killings of five women inside a Florida bank.
Florida coach Billy Napier is getting a fourth season to try to get the Gators back to their winning ways.
A Florida man has filed a federal lawsuit against Jacksonville sheriff's officers who severely beat him last year after he ran from a traffic stop.
The Marion County Sheriff's deputy told authorities that he accidentally shot and killed his girlfriend while cleaning his gun.
A U.S. crew member who went missing when an F-15E fighter jet was shot down over a remote area of Iran has been rescued by U.S. forces.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked George to step down and take immediate retirement, CBS News exclusively reported earlier this week.
The changes were likely to affect Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, the No. 3 official at the Justice Department and Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
The war shows no signs of slowing as Iran responds to airstrikes with attacks across the region.
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by a coalition of 17 Democratic state attorneys general.
Former state Sen. Lauren Book launched her 11th annual statewide walk, encouraging survivors to share their stories amid renewed attention on the Epstein case.
Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski is pressing county commissioners to approve a long-delayed mental health center, warning lives are at stake as the building sits empty.
Emily Gregory describes the days following her upset victory in Tuesday's special election as "a little overwhelming, surreal, but exciting."
The Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery, located at 2200 NW 7th Avenue, would be a first-of-its-kind facility that could make a difference in the lives of countless people.
Wasserman Schultz pushed back against the suggestion that the United States was led into this war by Israel and its leader, Benjamin Netanyahu.
An unlicensed cosmetologist from Florida has been found guilty in a California court for providing an injection that killed a model who was known as a Kim Kardashian lookalike, prosecutors said.
Food containing norovirus may smell and taste normal but still cause serious illness if consumed, FDA warns.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. wants the popular coffee chains to prove their surgery drinks are safe for teens and suggested the Trump administration could place limits on your cup of coffee.
Tests of dozens of baby formulas by Consumer Reports found that nearly half contained potentially dangerous chemicals.
A trial has been set in the San Francisco Bay Area for a Florida woman accused of providing a cosmetic injection that killed a woman who was known as a Kim Kardashian lookalike, prosecutors said.
A lawsuit filed late last month took Chicago-based McDonald's to task over the McRib sandwich, calling its name a form of false advertising.
Florida insurance policyholders could be seeing some form of relief in their wallets thanks to market reforms made statewide, Gov. Ron DeSantis said.
The company said Tuesday that 85% of its retail products and "nearly all" of its school offerings are already made without "certified colors."
Less than two days after Delta Air Lines offered $30,000 to each passenger on board the flight that crashed and flipped in Toronto on Monday afternoon, the company is facing its first two lawsuits in the incident — and they likely won't be the last.
Activists are calling for a nationwide boycott of Target stores following the company's decision to roll back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
A federal judge in New York has tossed out actor Blake Lively's sexual harassment claims against actor Justin Baldoni over their roles in the movie "It Ends With Us," but left intact a claim for retaliation.
Atlanta rapper Gucci Mane was lured to a Dallas studio for a meeting, then allegedly kidnapped and robbed by a group including rappers Pooh Shiesty and Big30.
A Las Vegas performer has sued Taylor Swift over the title of her hit album "The Life of a Showgirl," alleging it violates the performer's trademark.
The price hike raises the cost of the standard plan with ads by $1 per month and the cost of the standard and premium plans by $2.
Savannah Guthrie stepped back from her NBC duties almost two months ago when her mother, Nancy Guthrie, disappeared. The investigation is ongoing.