The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request from Republican political consultant Pat Bainter to keep more than 500 pages of redistricting documents from being released Dec. 1. According to the court’s website, Justice Clarence Thomas denied Bainter’s request to stay an earlier decision by the Florida Supreme Court requiring the records to be made public. Bainter sought the stay while he asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the ruling.
The Florida justices on Thursday issued a 10-day stay to give Bainter and his consulting firm, Data Targeting, Inc., an opportunity to appeal to the federal panel, but said they wouldn’t delay the release of the records any longer. A Leon County circuit judge this summer used the records in determining that a 2012 congressional redistricting plan violated anti-gerrymandering requirements in the state Constitution. But he allowed the records to remain sealed as Bainter and his firm fought their release.