I wrote a pretty long post about the Wisconsin legislature gerrymander in 2018: Republicans aim for a lame-duck power grab in Wisconsin - #60 by Lance_Turbo
It’s still pretty accurate.
Here’s the meat of it:
Judge Janet has refused to recuse.
Whether or not this will start impeachment proceedings, I don’t know.
One thing that I’m surprised about is that the republicans have really latched onto her use of the word ‘rigged’. They’re claiming she needs to recuse herself from a case on a subject she previously referred to as ‘rigged’, therefore she clearly has her mind made up.
If we’re going to base impeachments on things being called ‘rigged’, there’s going a whole lot of republicans that might need to start updating their resumes.
“Recusal decisions are controlled by the law. They are not a matter of personal preference. If precedent requires it, I must recuse. But if precedent does not warrant recusal, my oath binds me to participate,” Protasiewicz wrote in an order released Friday evening.
Is that entirely true? I mean, I can understand the law identifying specific situations where recusal is required, but I would have thought they could still voluntarily recuse themselves if they feel they may be, or may appear to be, biased.
Welp, Vos changed his mind again.
On Thursday, he suggested if Protasiewicz sides with Democrats on the redistricting lawsuit, Republican lawmakers could still pursue impeachment.
So he’s saying that if she doesn’t rule in his favor, he’ll attempt to have her impeached while also saying she’s the one being ‘political’.
Vos paraphrase “if she follows the law she’s OK, and the law is to follow precedent and previous court rulings say the maps are OK”
- Hmm, wasn’t there a case where the US Supreme Court broke 50+ years of precedent? Seems familiar…
- The legal issues are not the same. IIRC one of the issues is dealing with districts being contiguous. There previous court cases dealt with other issues which I can’t immediately find.
Brian
New update, a group calling itself “Wisconsin Elections Committee Inc” has threatened to recall Robin Vos if he can’t/won’t impeach Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe.
Wisconsin Elections Committee Inc was formed about a month ago by two people. One of them has already run against Robin Vos. The other is Harry Wait, a guy that’s already been in trouble for election fraud in the past.
That ship sailed a while ago. Just one example: Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson’s flirting with an “alternative slate of electors” after the 2020 presidential election (of course, he didn’t question his own slim victory over Mandela Barnes!).
The latest:
What a mess.
How is all this playing for Wisconsinites? What’s the general take on the ongoing kerfuffle?
We of the moderate and liberal ilk are gritting our teeth and rolling our eyes and keeping our fingers crossed. The voters spoke pretty loudly by voting in the liberal candidate in the state supreme court justice election but the Pubbies with their gerrymandered districts still control the state senate and assembly. Our Democratic governor is rather hamstrung as a result but does what he can.
My vote means little in most elections as I live in one of the most conservative areas of the state. Only times I feel my vote really counts is in the senatorial and presidential voting, or voting on statewide issues like the judiciary elections. I still vote in every election anyway.
It looks like a decision from the court in the redistricting case should be coming soon. How likely is it that will force a change to the GOP hold on the senate and assembly?
If redistricting happens, things will definitely change. Just how far remains to be seen. I’m hopeful but given the nature of politics here, I am not expecting miracles.
Most likely the court will have to assign a Special Master to come up with a new map. Such map should be reasonably neutral politics-wise.
Well, I keep offering to rent out Elections Canada to you guys…
FWIW:
Full Title: Wisconsin leader pivots, says impeachment of state Supreme Court justice over redistricting unlikely
The Republican leader of Wisconsin’s Assembly who had threatened possible impeachment of a new liberal state Supreme Court justice over her views on redistricting now says such a move is “super unlikely.”
More like “would super make us look even more idiotic.”
They totally do NOT care about looking super idiotic. That’s almost a badge of pride for that crowd.
They totally DO care about becoming super unelectable.
Yeah, the Mrs. and I did a happy dance over that news today.
The tango? The worm? Macarena?
This is great news, assuming it holds up. While Congressional gerrymandering gets all of the attention, it’s Republican gerrymandering of state legislatures that have let them entrench themselves in purple and blue-trending states and pass voter suppressing measures to further dig in.
Unfortunately, North Carolina has gone the other direction when a new conservative majority on the state Supreme Court ruled this year that Republicans can gerrymander to their heart’s content.
More like a lap dance.