Life and politics from the Sunshine State's best city

Whoops: Rosh Hashanah means no maps in redistricting case

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

A Jewish holiday is causing a delay in the filing of replacement maps in the ongoing congressional redistricting court challenge.

Last week, Circuit Judge Terry Lewis gave parties in the suit until Monday to turn in their proposed versions of how to draw boundary lines for Florida’s 27 congressional districts.

But Monday also is Rosh Hashanah, which began at sundown Sunday.

Plaintiffs’ spokeswoman Lisa Hall reminded reporters covering the case in an email:

“For those anticipating court filings today in the redistricting case — since today is a holiday observed by the SCOFLA (Supreme Court of Florida) clerk’s office, the deadline for filing has been pushed to tomorrow (Tuesday).

“The holiday marks the start of the year 5776 on the Jewish calendar.”

“The 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah and the holy day of Yom Kippur is a period of deep spiritual introspection for Jews around the world,” the Huffington Post explains. “It’s an opportunity to pause, reflect on the events of the past, and think about the year to come.”

A final evidentiary hearing in the redistricting case has been set to begin Sept. 24 and last as long as Sept. 28.

For background on the case, click here.

Before joining Florida Politics, journalist and attorney James Rosica was state government reporter for The Tampa Tribune. He attended journalism school in Washington, D.C., working at dailies and weekly papers in Philadelphia after graduation. Rosica joined the Tallahassee Democrat in 1997, later moving to the courts beat, where he reported on the 2000 presidential recount. In 2005, Rosica left journalism to attend law school in Philadelphia, afterwards working part time for a public-interest law firm. Returning to writing, he covered three legislative sessions in Tallahassee for The Associated Press, before joining the Tribune’s re-opened Tallahassee bureau in 2013. He can be reached at [email protected]

Latest from Statewide

Go to Top