Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds to 2024 Redistricting Deadline

Frederica Freyberg:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered both parties in the legislative districts case submit their own remedial maps by today, along with evidence to back why theirs comports with the opinion ruled on by the court last month. The liberal side which brought the case before the court called it a ‘fantastic decision,’ while the side defending the state’s GOP-drawn maps called the case ‘pre-decided.’ The state’s high court ruled Wisconsin’s legislative maps are unconstitutional because half of all districts are not contiguous, having islands of territory nestled inside an adjacent district. In a motion to reconsider, the parties backing the Republican-drawn maps said the accelerated timeline needed to have new remedial maps in place, “failed to give the Legislature a reasonable opportunity to redistrict and apply the court’s newfound contiguity rules and leaves insufficient time before the 2024 election deadlines commence.” They also accuse the court of being “largely quiet on respondent’s arguments” and not giving them “a full and fair opportunity to litigate this case” or “be heard on proposed remedies.” Mark Gaber, attorney for the Campaign Legal Center, the leading group bringing this lawsuit, pushes back on these arguments.

Mark Gaber:
States all across the country have these annexations the same way that Wisconsin does and they don’t have any problem having districts that are fully contiguous. The Wisconsin Supreme Court is not ordering a quicker schedule than what we see in the normal redistricting case. This is just the way they all are and certainly the parties are all having the opportunity to brief issues and have argument and submit maps. There’s a process with independent experts and so it’s really a robust process that the court puts in place. The Wisconsin Supreme Court has done is adhered to the letter of the law and said that when it imposes a plan, a new map, it’s going to be done in a way that does not put a thumb on the scale in favor of certain Wisconsinites over other Wisconsinites.

Frederica Freyberg:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court just rejected the motion for reconsideration.