RILEY VETTERKIND
The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday declined a request from Republicans to adopt new redistricting rules meant to keep litigation over drawing the state s next political maps in the state Supreme Court.Â
The decision, handed down via an unsigned order, represents a defeat for Republicans as Wisconsin lawmakers gear up to draw the state s next set of 10-year maps in a political environment that is already more difficult for the GOP given they have lost control of the governor s office since the last map-drawing process 10 years ago. The court determined that, as drafted, the procedures proposed in this administrative rule petition are unlikely to materially aid this court s consideration of an as yet undefined future redistricting challenge, and voted to deny the petition, the court said. In the decision, however, justices said the denial of the petition doesn t predict whether the court would bypass lower courts to take up a redistricting case,
Wisconsin Examiner
Gear up for new maps
Demonstrators gather outside the U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments in Gill v. Whitford, Wisconsin s gerrymandering case. (Photo by Olivier Douliery/Getty Images)
The conservative majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturns an emergency public health order in the middle of a pandemic even as new COVID cases rise. Writing for the majority, Justice Brian Hagedorn acknowledges that the virus is “dangerous” and has “taken far too many lives,” but the important issue, he writes bolstered by two separate amicus briefs from the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature is that “the power to end and to refuse to extend a state of emergency resides with the legislature even when the underlying occurrence creating the emergency remains a threat.”
Op Ed: Wisconsin Needs Fair Maps urbanmilwaukee.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from urbanmilwaukee.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MADISON - Four Madison teachers are suing Republican legislative leaders to block them from hiring private attorneys with taxpayer money in anticipation of a legal fight over drawing new congressional and legislative maps.
The group of teachers, which includes the Madison Teachers Inc. president and active members of the union, argue Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos hired outside counsel illegally because there is no legal challenge in which to represent them.
Vos said the lawsuit is frivolous and brought by an activist liberal attorney for purposes of making money for himself and will prove to be a waste of taxpayer resources, referring to Lester Pines, the plaintiffs attorney who has fought Republicans in court for years in high-profile cases over GOP-written laws.
Lawsuit seeks to block Wisconsin GOP from hiring redistricting lawyers wausaudailyherald.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wausaudailyherald.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.