Wisconsin Supreme Court orders new legislative maps

MADISON (WMDX) – The Wisconsin Supreme Court is ordering new legislative maps to be drawn for the state.

The majority in the 4-3 ruling said that the current maps are not constitutional because the majority of districts aren’t contiguous.

“For a district to be composed of contiguous territory, its territory must be touching such that one could travel from one point in the district to any other point in the district without crossing district lines,” Justice Jill Karofsky wrote in the majority ruling. “At least 50 of 99 assembly districts and at least 20 of 33 senate districts violate this mandate, rendering them unconstitutional.”

The court plans on adopting different maps in time for the 2024 election, but there is time for the Republican-held state legislature to draw maps that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers would sign. Evers, who vetoed the current maps, would have to sign off on new maps in the next few months. Otherwise, the court will determine which maps to use for the election.

“We are hopeful that the legislative process will produce new legislative district maps,” Karofsky wrote. “However, should that fail to happen, this court is prepared to adopt remedial maps based on the criteria, process, and dates set forth in this opinion and the concurrent order.”

The lawsuit was filed shortly after Justice Janet Protasiewicz overwhelmingly won in the spring election over Dan Kelly.

Justice Annette Ziegler wrote in her dissent that the court majority was employing “judicial activism on steroids.”

“Rather than start with the law and see it through to the end, the court starts with the goal and works backwards to justify it,” Ziegler wrote. “This is not faithful judging, and I will have no part of it.”

Gov. Evers posted on social media Friday in support of the ruling, calling the current maps gerrymandered and that he’s optimistic that they will be changed.

“It’s clear to me that a Republican-controlled Legislature that has consistently gerrymandered itself into comfortable, partisan majorities for more than a decade is incapable of preparing fair, nonpartisan maps deserving of the people of this state,” Evers wrote. “I look forward to submitting maps to the Court to consider and review that reflect and represent the makeup of our state.”

My statement regarding the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Clarke v. WEC. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ewSSLe6yAW

— Governor Tony Evers (@GovEvers) December 22, 2023

Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul called the ruling “a great day for democracy in Wisconsin.”

“For over a decade, our state legislature has been elected in a fundamentally undemocratic manner due to partisan gerrymandering,” Kaul said in a statement. “And the consequences have been immense: policies with strong public support have been blocked by—and often haven’t even received a hearing from—the legislature.”