Wisconsin Democrats launched a counterattack against Republicans threatening to impeach liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz over a case that could result in the court tossing GOP-drawn legislative maps.
The Wisconsin Democratic Party introduced a $4 million defense effort on Wednesday to target GOP lawmakers who are pressuring Protasiewicz to recuse herself from hearing a lawsuit arguing the Republican-drawn legislative maps are unconstitutional. Republicans sounded the alarm on a possible impeachment if she doesn’t recuse herself from the case.
SUPREME COURT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION RULING PROMPTS COLLEGE DIVERSITY ESSAY ‘LOOPHOLE’
The state Supreme Court is expected to hear two pending redistricting lawsuits filed during Protasiewicz’s first week in office last month. One of the lawsuits, filed on Aug. 2 by Law Forward, a coalition of law firms and voting rights advocacy groups Law Forward, asks all 132 state lawmakers to be up for election, including those not slated to be on the 2024 ballot.
The new justice has had a tumultuous start serving on the state’s highest court, feuding with Chief Justice Annette Ziegler after firing the state courts director, Randy Koschnick, the week she was sworn in.
Protasiewicz has been vocal about her views on abortion rights and the state’s maps, saying the Republican maps were “rigged” and called for them to be reviewed.
Protasiewicz released a letter on Tuesday from the Wisconsin Judicial Commission stating several complaints lodged against her over comments she made during her campaign this year about voting maps have been dropped.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos issued a statement following the state judiciary disciplinary panel’s motion, continuing to push Protasiewicz to “recuse herself from any legislative redistricting cases.” Vos said the commission’s memo “only muddies the waters” and questioned why the panel did not address the $10 million in campaign funds from the Democratic Party that Protasiewicz accepted, the party interested in the redistricting lawsuit.
Democrats spent nearly $10 million to elect Protasiewicz in August, flipping the long-standing conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court for the first time in 15 years.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
In response to Vos’s impeachment threats, the Assembly Democratic Caucus and the Senate Democratic Caucus said they’ll do everything “power to prevent this egregious effort to undermine our democracy.”
“Legislative Republicans have threatened to nullify more than a million votes for a duly elected justice in order to hold onto their power and deny Wisconsinites access to reproductive rights,” a Wednesday statement signed by dozens of lawmakers reads. “Attempting to change the rules to hold onto power is nothing new for Speaker Vos and legislative Republicans.
