Report: Madison-based law firm to challenge state legislative maps

MADISON, Wis. (Civic Media) – A Madison-based law firm is planning to challenge the state’s legislative maps, according to a report by the Capital Times.

Law Forward, which describes itself as a “pro-democracy nonprofit that uses strategic litigation to develop the law,” plans to file the lawsuit after Janet Protasiewicz is sworn in as a member of the Wisconsin Supreme Court in August.

Protasiewicz won in Tuesday’s election over former justice Dan Kelly to secure a spot on the state’s high court.

The group posted on social media Thursday that the current maps are gerrymandered and described the current state government as “not accountable to the voters.”

Wisconsin's Constitution guarantees a free and fair government. The way that our gerrymandered maps have consolidated power within a legislative body that is not accountable to the voters – it is not a free and fair government. https://t.co/Demimoo5Tn

— Law Forward (@lawfwd) April 6, 2023

The University of Wisconsin Law School said that the adoption of the current legislative maps have “substantially higher levels of partisan inequity than the average court-adopted map.” The U.S. Supreme Court decided against Wisconsin’s Supreme Court selecting Gov. Evers’ maps in 2022, and the state Supreme Court then adopted a Republican-drawn legislative map instead in April of 2022.

According to the Capital Times, Law Forward will argue that the current maps violate Wisconsin’s constitution as they do not provide a “free and fair government,” citing how close statewide elections are versus representation by each party in the sate legislature. Republicans hold a supermajority in the state Senate following Dan Knodl’s win in a special election this Tuesday and are two seats away from a supermajority in the Assembly.

"[The suit] will be an opportunity to really talk about the impact of the partisan gerrymander and how it has harmed, not just our ability to make government work for the people, but also kind of the civic fabric of our state." – @nicolemsafar https://t.co/pCm4KlgEyv

— Law Forward (@lawfwd) April 6, 2023