As the Florida House prepared to hold its first redistricting meetings, Democratic leader Ron Saunders warned members of his caucus that lawsuits are coming, so โsilence is golden,โ because any opinion they expressed publicly could become evidence, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
His comments recall remarks by GOP senators, who during their first redistricting meeting earlier this year warned colleagues to watch what they say in emails, which could be โdiscoverableโ during the lawsuits many of them seemed to think were inevitable.
This is one reason other states put their redistricting processes in the hands of independent commissions. When lawmakers are charged with drawing their own districts (or the state Senate and U.S. Congressional districts they may run for someday), just about all of them have inherent conflicts of interest of some kind, and just about anything they say can be used against them in court.
