New challenge to Florida Senate redistricting filed

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Senate's redistricting map again is being challenged.

Several individuals and groups including The League of Women Voters in Tallahassee filed a lawsuit Wednesday in circuit court.

The Florida Supreme Court already has approved the map drawn by the Republican-led Legislature after the justices rejected lawmakers' initial Senate plan.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs says the high court conducted a limited review. He says a full review would show they violated criteria in a new state constitutional amendment aimed at preventing gerrymandering.

Another amendment sets the same criteria for congressional redistricting. The Legislature's congressional map already is under challenge in the same court.

A judge Wednesday also heard argument in that case on the Legislature's effort to prevent the plaintiffs from interviewing lawmakers and staffers about that map.