Florida’s congressional districts will stand now that the Florida Supreme Court upheld the maps and rejected a challenge over a former district that stretched from Jacksonville to Tallahassee.

The court ruled July 17 in a 5-1 opinion that the Legislature couldn’t have kept the old Congressional District 5 intact without drawing it based on racial motives, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

“We uphold our state’s congressional districting plan, because the federal Equal Protection Clause prohibits the racially gerrymandered district that the plaintiffs demand,” Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz wrote for the majority.

A group of voting-rights groups, including Black Voters Matter and the League of Women Voters of Florida, had challenged the new districts. They claimed the new maps violated Florida's anti-gerrymandering Fair Districts Amendment passed by voters in 2010, which bars the Legislature from drawing maps that diminish the ability of minority groups to elect a representative of their choice.