In April 2023, Wisconsin Republicans were apoplectic after Janet Protasiewicz was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Their hissy fits and temper tantrums hit their crescendo later in the summer when a progressive law firm took advantage of the political shift in the court and filed a lawsuit regarding the extreme gerrymandering of the legislative district maps.
Even now, almost a full year later, they are still having conniptions, even when they get what they want.
After the state supreme court had ruled that the state's legislative maps were unconstitutional, the Elias Law Firm filed a motion to ask the court to revisit the congressional district maps. The Republicans went into meltdown mode once again and demanded that Protasiewicz recuse herself.
On Friday, the court rejected the motion. Protasiewicz had indeed sat out on the decision, not from recusal but simply because she had not been on the bench when the original case was heard. But even though they conservatives got what they wanted, they just couldn't bring themselves to act like adults, much less like even tempered justices:
"This motion comes as no surprise after the court's new majority telegraphed its willingness to rebalance political power in the state of Wisconsin by overturning Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission," conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in the order, referencing the court's previous decision on the maps.
"While the court rightfully denies this motion," she added, "it likely won't be long until the new majority flexes its political power again to advance a partisan agenda despite the damage inflicted on the independence and integrity of the court."
[...]
The court in its decision did not directly address the theory. But Bradley and Ziegler in their concurrence said the liberal majority's "reckless abandonment of settled legal precedent" in the December legislative maps case on which the motion was based "incentivizes litigants to bring politically divisive cases to this court regardless of their legal merit."
I would remind the gentle reader that both Ziegler and Bradley are on the bench only being wholly owned subsidiaries of the conservative money tank, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce (WMC). And that both justices have ruled on many cases from which they should have recused themselves, had they not adopted new rules regarding recusals which were written by - wait for it!! - WMC.
I tell you, you just can't make this shit up anymore. I just hope the Elias Law Firm decides to pursue the matter again using a different route. It's really a clear cut case, as was the legislative district maps.
