In April, Janet Protasiewicz was elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court with more than one million votes, defeating her conservative opponent by a wide margin. Her victory tipped the balance of the court, and the new liberal majority will soon review a case,
Wisconsin Republicans think they are invincible and will likely go ahead and impeach. The smart play for her would then be to immediately resign, allowing Gov. Evers to appoint her replacement. Out of pure spite he should appoint someone even more liberal. The gerrymandering and abortion cases should then be fast tracked and decided quickly.
And then in 2024 Democrats should ride a wave of rage to power in all statewide offices, and using fair maps, majorities in the legislature. Judge Janet should also run for her stolen seat on the court, unless there are rules against it given impeachment.
Leaving spite aside, I wonder strategically if that might work. Or at least make life interesting if the timing is right.
I’ve heard 2 other things the GOP may try.
1st, impeaching but not having a vote in the Senate which would leave her in limbo but technically on the bench unable to vote. (Don’t know WI law. If there is no timeline in the law it could be possible.)
2nd. Impeaching anyone the governor appoints to replace her.
I've read that the plan is to impeach but not hold the trial. That does hold her in limbo unless she resigns. Unless WI Republicans come to understand that this act of political malfeasance will end badly for them, I think they are just arrogant enough to do it.
I’m not in WI, but because impeachment commonly prevents holding an office again I looked this up. It looks like that is an option for the legislature IF she was convicted.
The tricky part is if there is a way to get around their attempt to nullify her vote. Could the governor make the GOP show their hand. I believe they’ve threatened to impeach any replacement also but the governor could fill any vacancy “the next day.” There might be more to it... but unless a Justice does not have to be in office to be impeached ...
If each time they began impeachment the Justice resigned, the governor appointed a new Justice, and just rotated them - none would be disqualified and the seat would not be empty / the court potentially tied. (Of course the legislature could try ot change the law also)
In Ky we had legislators draw up impeachment charges against prosecutors who very much deserved impeachment. One was impeached, convicted and removed & cannot run for office again. The other resigned a the last minute and ran for office again. Both wound up being charged by police & the FBI brought charges against at least one.
The irony of Republicans daring to bring up political contributions when they changed the law on that being a reason for recusal is cartoonish - but totally in character. When the rules work for them the GOP is 100% on board. Otherwise, not so much.
My guess is that they impeach but never hold the trial and the final vote. Like McCarthy and his MAGA charade in DC, in spite of their supermajority, they do not have the votes to convict.
Wow, Judd and Tesnim, thank you for all of this information--this has been all over the news but I'm guessing that very few understand anything about what can be done about it. Unfortunately, everything in the law can take "forever" (while the Republican party implements their agenda in every corner). Peter, commenting 34 minutes ago, seems to have one solution, maybe the best one, but I can't imagine Protasiewicz being willing to risk the move of resigning. And, how long would it take for the Governor to install a more liberal judge?
I just looked up the legal qualifications of one of my favorite Senators from the past, Russ Feingold, who was defeated by Ron Johnson in 2010 by Koch money. He'd be the perfect replacement Judge:
"For the better part of the last 10 years and in addition to his congressional and diplomatic career, Russ has taught extensively at various American law schools including Stanford Law School (where he is currently teaching), Yale Law School, Marquette University Law School, and Harvard Law School."
The only policy plank of the present GOP throughout the country is “Power for the sake of power at any cost”. Rules be damned, they want to pick their voters rather than “allow” the voters to pick their representatives. There is nothing in America that is more un-American than the GOP. Dems must vote in overwhelming numbers in 2024 & beyond.
America in 2023 is divided in much the same way as it was in 1860. Then, as now, dis-information within the southern states convinced voters there that the Federal government was trampling "states rights" and the institution of slavery was a mere sideshow. Today, the dis-information industry has also created a voter base untethered from reality. The difference being that today, those voters are spread across the geography. Southern voters in 1860 were ill-informed as are millions of voters today. As Madison warned, a democratic republic requires a well-informed electorate.
What better example of law for thee, but not for me. Damn CONServatives think they are above the law, even their own laws. It is almost like they are pirates following the Code, it is only a suggestion.
The voter be damned. The will of the people means nothing. Amazing what the GOP will do to stay in power. Lie, cheat and steal seems to be their mantra.
Here's the kicker: What the Republicans could (and likely will) do is to impeach Judge Protasiewicz and then refuse to schedule a trial. That would leave her and the Democrats in limbo, with her being unable to decide any cases and the Governor unable to fill her position with a replacement (at least that's the way it was explained to me).
That’s how I understand it. But the play than is for Protasiewicz to resign, allowing Gov. Evars to fill the seat until a special election. That reality may be the one thing that stops the GOP. The possibility that they could be out games.
What a mockery of democracy. Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin is legendary, of course, but I had no idea that a legislative district did not have to be contiguous! Incredible.
Ugh.. I had no idea the ULINE CEO was a huge GOP backer. I’ve ordered from them for years (small orders, nothing on a big scale) but will not be ordering from them any longer. Thank you for sharing this information. Once you know better, you do better!
Yes, the CEO of Uline and his wife are total deplorables. Literally awful people. Please stay away from that company. And the best part is, they live in IL not WI!!
Yes, they were the major funders of the "Issue 1" in Ohio in August. And yet, the Republican argument was that Issue 1 would "help keep dark, out-of-state operatives from shaping Ohio's Constitution"! And they believe their own lies!!
Anyone who is surprised by what is happening in Wisconsin has not been paying attention. The Republicans have been moving in this direction since Newt Gingrich taught his party that politics is a winner-takes-all war, not a means to govern through bi-partisan consensus. Not content with the structural advantages built into our system that allows the minority party to rule—the Electoral College, two senators for thinly populated states, and more—Republicans have been twisting or ignoring the Constitution for decades.
Packing the courts—including denying a sitting president the right to nominate a Supreme Court justice—gutting the Voting Rights Act, declaring corporations "people," a Republican-lead Supreme Court deciding the 2000 election, regularly purging hundreds of thousands from voting rolls, stripping newly elected governors of their powers, abusing Senate rules to hold up Democratic nominations—and now military promotions—using the debt ceiling to play chicken with the world economy, and so much more.
Democrats have done nothing to push back at any point in this march to locking in minority party rule. They have allowed Republicans to abuse our systen, insisting that things have to change at the ballot box. But when elections are rigged—or now deemed illegitimate when Republicans lose—how can we fight back at the ballot box?
So now we they will impeach a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice to keep their hyper-gerrymandered map and their super-majorities in their state legislatures. At the same time spineless Kevin McCarthy will green-light impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden—as Donald Trump demands—despite having no evidence of any crimes.
And this, while Donald Trump promises to use the Justice Department to punish his many political enemies should he return to the White House.
Anyone who doubts that Trump will follow through on his promised retribution has not been paying attention.
All true. One interesting note on McCarthy. It does not appear that he has the votes to open an “inquiry.” He had promised not to do that because they criticized Pelosi for not taking it to the floor. But the rules allow it and he did it today. If he doesn’t have the votes for an inquiry, as things stand now he doesn’t have the votes for impeachment. He has let the strays run the caucus and the herd is upset.
This is about smearing Biden, not about investigating him, which they have been doing for years and found absolutely nothing. (Each investigation has been more embarrassing than the next.) They are muddying the waters for Trump, trying to bring Biden down to Trump's level so they can say say, "See, everyone is corrupt" and get their guy a pass from voters. As ludicrous as this sounds, it worked against Kerry and Hillary. Twitter is already flooded with the Sean Hannitys of their world calling this "the biggest corruption scandal in American history." Americans are so tired of all this garbage that many might just throw up their hands and decide not to vote—which would be a victory for the Republicans.
Yes, I believe this is just like Benghazi which McCarthy bragged was about driving down HRC’s polling. What I pointed out is McCarthy does not have the votes for an inquiry let alone an impeachment. He did not want to start an impeachment process. He does want to pass a continuing resolution to avoid a shutdown and he signed the debt ceiling agreement which passed both chambers only because of the Democrats. He knows issues and where most of his caucus stands. The chaos caucus is not on board.
A sizable group bigger than the chaos caucus are afraid of the impeachment talk. Recently, he said if and when there was evidence, he would have a vote to open an inquiry. The only thing that changed was Gaetz saying he didn’t live up to his agreement that made him speaker, and every day until McCarthy did, he would make the House open with the pledge, a prayer and a motion to vacate the chair. The debt ceiling bill was passed because McCarthy relied on Dem votes. He could strike a deal with Dems to save his seat. I think that will happen when pigs fly.
I have not heard or seen any solutions for GOP behavior. I’m not willing to become just like them and subvert the system. People like power. They like to think they can control it. They don’t worry about how their decisions can be is turned against them later. Until enough voters have buyers regret I don’t see change. In our state, we see new candidates who are the most extreme being defeated in their primaries. The old ones remain. I’m not sure that’s better because not being obviously extreme is harder to fight in the general election. Meanwhile, our networks are doing what we can across our state. Finding out what folks think; planning how to talk to them closer to the election; making sure they can vote and donating to groups funding lawsuits.
The only way Republican’s can win in any state is by picking their voters, rather than voters selecting their representatives, but Wisconsin’s experience is beyond the pale. As someone who was born, raised and lived in WI until 2004 I am appalled at how the RepubliCONS have been able to stay in power. I lived there when the state was the beacon of light and democracy was the rule. So sad to see the people of Wisconsin to be so duped by the right-wing media that they’ve bought into the crazies. Hope there are still a couple of Republicans who will let the will of the people decide who should serve on their Supreme Court.
They have literally drawn those maps contrary to what the state constitution mandates. My question is, does a possible future lawsuit about this have to be litigated in the state of WI (and we know how that would turn out), or can the DOJ do anything?
I know they have. And if the WI supremes have OK prior maps, what arguments did they use to dodge the wording of the state constitution? Or have they just not ruled on the issue? It is the PENDING state court action coming up before the court that makes the ability of the duly elected new justice so critical.
The Supremes have declined to rule on political gerrymandering, as opposed to racial. I suspect that DOJ would have to make a case for racial gerrymandering (as happened in Alabama) to use the tools of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. There is currently no federal statute covering political gerrymandering.
Once again Republicans are stifling the majority. They are the biggest proponents in the world behind the catholic church when it comes to "do as I say, not as I do". The biggest collection of hypocrites in the entire world. They have to cheat to win because they are the minority. We need more people on the left willing to gerrymander in favor of democrats. Every time the republicans win a majority they try this. And then dems take it back and make it 'fair'. Enough is enough! Fight fire with fire for once!
As a Wisconsin vote: i plan on following my state reps around to any and all sessions they hold. It’s time to get vocal and get in the face of the tyrannical radical terrorists that are the Republican Party. No mercy for the group trying to silence the majority of Wisconsin voters.
Just a reminder to everyone that the Republican party of today will do ANYTHING to stay in power. It doesn't matter what voters want or voters do, they will lie, cheat, steal, rig, change every outcome that does not suit them. They will use every single dirty low down trick in the book and then some to get and keep power over others. Because they are scared to death of a fair fight. They are a party covered in mud and it is not going to wash off. And never believe any BS that they tell you. It is all made up to serve their ultimate purpose of gaining and keeping power, period! They are a party that only cares about power over others and nothing else. They are NOT to be trusted.
I wonder if someone knows their strategy with this. A reporter who lives in the state said he was hearing they don’t intend to have a vote in the Senate so that she is neither removed, nor able to vote. That would keep the governor from making an appointment because there is no vacancy.
Strategically speaking, in such a situation, the Governor may be able to wait for her to resign and then appoint her?
Meanwhile, tie votes are losing votes. That is a problem.
Wisconsin Republicans think they are invincible and will likely go ahead and impeach. The smart play for her would then be to immediately resign, allowing Gov. Evers to appoint her replacement. Out of pure spite he should appoint someone even more liberal. The gerrymandering and abortion cases should then be fast tracked and decided quickly.
And then in 2024 Democrats should ride a wave of rage to power in all statewide offices, and using fair maps, majorities in the legislature. Judge Janet should also run for her stolen seat on the court, unless there are rules against it given impeachment.
I think there must be other ways. Janet P. should not have to resign her fairly won seat.
Perhaps she could be appointed 😂
I like the way you think!!
Leaving spite aside, I wonder strategically if that might work. Or at least make life interesting if the timing is right.
I’ve heard 2 other things the GOP may try.
1st, impeaching but not having a vote in the Senate which would leave her in limbo but technically on the bench unable to vote. (Don’t know WI law. If there is no timeline in the law it could be possible.)
2nd. Impeaching anyone the governor appoints to replace her.
I've read that the plan is to impeach but not hold the trial. That does hold her in limbo unless she resigns. Unless WI Republicans come to understand that this act of political malfeasance will end badly for them, I think they are just arrogant enough to do it.
I’m not in WI, but because impeachment commonly prevents holding an office again I looked this up. It looks like that is an option for the legislature IF she was convicted.
The tricky part is if there is a way to get around their attempt to nullify her vote. Could the governor make the GOP show their hand. I believe they’ve threatened to impeach any replacement also but the governor could fill any vacancy “the next day.” There might be more to it... but unless a Justice does not have to be in office to be impeached ...
If each time they began impeachment the Justice resigned, the governor appointed a new Justice, and just rotated them - none would be disqualified and the seat would not be empty / the court potentially tied. (Of course the legislature could try ot change the law also)
In Ky we had legislators draw up impeachment charges against prosecutors who very much deserved impeachment. One was impeached, convicted and removed & cannot run for office again. The other resigned a the last minute and ran for office again. Both wound up being charged by police & the FBI brought charges against at least one.
https://ballotpedia.org/Article_VII,_Wisconsin_Constitution
The irony of Republicans daring to bring up political contributions when they changed the law on that being a reason for recusal is cartoonish - but totally in character. When the rules work for them the GOP is 100% on board. Otherwise, not so much.
My guess is that they impeach but never hold the trial and the final vote. Like McCarthy and his MAGA charade in DC, in spite of their supermajority, they do not have the votes to convict.
Then the court is tied and when these cases come to it the voters lose unless there is a plan B.
Wow, Judd and Tesnim, thank you for all of this information--this has been all over the news but I'm guessing that very few understand anything about what can be done about it. Unfortunately, everything in the law can take "forever" (while the Republican party implements their agenda in every corner). Peter, commenting 34 minutes ago, seems to have one solution, maybe the best one, but I can't imagine Protasiewicz being willing to risk the move of resigning. And, how long would it take for the Governor to install a more liberal judge?
I just looked up the legal qualifications of one of my favorite Senators from the past, Russ Feingold, who was defeated by Ron Johnson in 2010 by Koch money. He'd be the perfect replacement Judge:
"For the better part of the last 10 years and in addition to his congressional and diplomatic career, Russ has taught extensively at various American law schools including Stanford Law School (where he is currently teaching), Yale Law School, Marquette University Law School, and Harvard Law School."
Yes to feingold! I was so disappointed when he lost his seat.
The only policy plank of the present GOP throughout the country is “Power for the sake of power at any cost”. Rules be damned, they want to pick their voters rather than “allow” the voters to pick their representatives. There is nothing in America that is more un-American than the GOP. Dems must vote in overwhelming numbers in 2024 & beyond.
America in 2023 is divided in much the same way as it was in 1860. Then, as now, dis-information within the southern states convinced voters there that the Federal government was trampling "states rights" and the institution of slavery was a mere sideshow. Today, the dis-information industry has also created a voter base untethered from reality. The difference being that today, those voters are spread across the geography. Southern voters in 1860 were ill-informed as are millions of voters today. As Madison warned, a democratic republic requires a well-informed electorate.
What better example of law for thee, but not for me. Damn CONServatives think they are above the law, even their own laws. It is almost like they are pirates following the Code, it is only a suggestion.
The voter be damned. The will of the people means nothing. Amazing what the GOP will do to stay in power. Lie, cheat and steal seems to be their mantra.
Here's the kicker: What the Republicans could (and likely will) do is to impeach Judge Protasiewicz and then refuse to schedule a trial. That would leave her and the Democrats in limbo, with her being unable to decide any cases and the Governor unable to fill her position with a replacement (at least that's the way it was explained to me).
That’s how I understand it. But the play than is for Protasiewicz to resign, allowing Gov. Evars to fill the seat until a special election. That reality may be the one thing that stops the GOP. The possibility that they could be out games.
"Blinded by partisianship."
That description is the ENTIRETY of the formerly republican party's (now known as the Party of Constant Criminals) alleged platform.
PCC rhymes with the GOP but is a much more colorful and more importantly, accurate description.
What a mockery of democracy. Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin is legendary, of course, but I had no idea that a legislative district did not have to be contiguous! Incredible.
But Joe, I read that they MUST be contiguous--did I get that wrong? It sounded to me like they violated their own rules--and have let it stand?
That’s how I read the law as well. Yet GOP has no problem defying it.
Some resources organizers are using to help understand and oppose this Republican scheme:
Map of WI state house districts along with the reps and how to call them https://arcg.is/i501j0
Follow the money map from the ULINE Wisconsin billionaires to the Jan 6th protestors and the GOP. https://embed.kumu.io/afcca4a60071d585e16fe9a1a5e18391
https://thedemlabs.org/2023/09/11/maga-coup-against-democracy/
A 3 min of audio summary of the threatened GOP impeachment (streaming from SoundCloud) https://on.soundcloud.com/MLZ31
Ugh.. I had no idea the ULINE CEO was a huge GOP backer. I’ve ordered from them for years (small orders, nothing on a big scale) but will not be ordering from them any longer. Thank you for sharing this information. Once you know better, you do better!
Yes, the CEO of Uline and his wife are total deplorables. Literally awful people. Please stay away from that company. And the best part is, they live in IL not WI!!
Yes, they were the major funders of the "Issue 1" in Ohio in August. And yet, the Republican argument was that Issue 1 would "help keep dark, out-of-state operatives from shaping Ohio's Constitution"! And they believe their own lies!!
Anyone who is surprised by what is happening in Wisconsin has not been paying attention. The Republicans have been moving in this direction since Newt Gingrich taught his party that politics is a winner-takes-all war, not a means to govern through bi-partisan consensus. Not content with the structural advantages built into our system that allows the minority party to rule—the Electoral College, two senators for thinly populated states, and more—Republicans have been twisting or ignoring the Constitution for decades.
Packing the courts—including denying a sitting president the right to nominate a Supreme Court justice—gutting the Voting Rights Act, declaring corporations "people," a Republican-lead Supreme Court deciding the 2000 election, regularly purging hundreds of thousands from voting rolls, stripping newly elected governors of their powers, abusing Senate rules to hold up Democratic nominations—and now military promotions—using the debt ceiling to play chicken with the world economy, and so much more.
Democrats have done nothing to push back at any point in this march to locking in minority party rule. They have allowed Republicans to abuse our systen, insisting that things have to change at the ballot box. But when elections are rigged—or now deemed illegitimate when Republicans lose—how can we fight back at the ballot box?
So now we they will impeach a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice to keep their hyper-gerrymandered map and their super-majorities in their state legislatures. At the same time spineless Kevin McCarthy will green-light impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden—as Donald Trump demands—despite having no evidence of any crimes.
And this, while Donald Trump promises to use the Justice Department to punish his many political enemies should he return to the White House.
Anyone who doubts that Trump will follow through on his promised retribution has not been paying attention.
All true. One interesting note on McCarthy. It does not appear that he has the votes to open an “inquiry.” He had promised not to do that because they criticized Pelosi for not taking it to the floor. But the rules allow it and he did it today. If he doesn’t have the votes for an inquiry, as things stand now he doesn’t have the votes for impeachment. He has let the strays run the caucus and the herd is upset.
This is about smearing Biden, not about investigating him, which they have been doing for years and found absolutely nothing. (Each investigation has been more embarrassing than the next.) They are muddying the waters for Trump, trying to bring Biden down to Trump's level so they can say say, "See, everyone is corrupt" and get their guy a pass from voters. As ludicrous as this sounds, it worked against Kerry and Hillary. Twitter is already flooded with the Sean Hannitys of their world calling this "the biggest corruption scandal in American history." Americans are so tired of all this garbage that many might just throw up their hands and decide not to vote—which would be a victory for the Republicans.
Yes, I believe this is just like Benghazi which McCarthy bragged was about driving down HRC’s polling. What I pointed out is McCarthy does not have the votes for an inquiry let alone an impeachment. He did not want to start an impeachment process. He does want to pass a continuing resolution to avoid a shutdown and he signed the debt ceiling agreement which passed both chambers only because of the Democrats. He knows issues and where most of his caucus stands. The chaos caucus is not on board.
A sizable group bigger than the chaos caucus are afraid of the impeachment talk. Recently, he said if and when there was evidence, he would have a vote to open an inquiry. The only thing that changed was Gaetz saying he didn’t live up to his agreement that made him speaker, and every day until McCarthy did, he would make the House open with the pledge, a prayer and a motion to vacate the chair. The debt ceiling bill was passed because McCarthy relied on Dem votes. He could strike a deal with Dems to save his seat. I think that will happen when pigs fly.
I have not heard or seen any solutions for GOP behavior. I’m not willing to become just like them and subvert the system. People like power. They like to think they can control it. They don’t worry about how their decisions can be is turned against them later. Until enough voters have buyers regret I don’t see change. In our state, we see new candidates who are the most extreme being defeated in their primaries. The old ones remain. I’m not sure that’s better because not being obviously extreme is harder to fight in the general election. Meanwhile, our networks are doing what we can across our state. Finding out what folks think; planning how to talk to them closer to the election; making sure they can vote and donating to groups funding lawsuits.
The only way Republican’s can win in any state is by picking their voters, rather than voters selecting their representatives, but Wisconsin’s experience is beyond the pale. As someone who was born, raised and lived in WI until 2004 I am appalled at how the RepubliCONS have been able to stay in power. I lived there when the state was the beacon of light and democracy was the rule. So sad to see the people of Wisconsin to be so duped by the right-wing media that they’ve bought into the crazies. Hope there are still a couple of Republicans who will let the will of the people decide who should serve on their Supreme Court.
I assume the court has considered maps before. How do they argue around the wording of the state constitution?
They have literally drawn those maps contrary to what the state constitution mandates. My question is, does a possible future lawsuit about this have to be litigated in the state of WI (and we know how that would turn out), or can the DOJ do anything?
I know they have. And if the WI supremes have OK prior maps, what arguments did they use to dodge the wording of the state constitution? Or have they just not ruled on the issue? It is the PENDING state court action coming up before the court that makes the ability of the duly elected new justice so critical.
The Supremes have declined to rule on political gerrymandering, as opposed to racial. I suspect that DOJ would have to make a case for racial gerrymandering (as happened in Alabama) to use the tools of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. There is currently no federal statute covering political gerrymandering.
Once again Republicans are stifling the majority. They are the biggest proponents in the world behind the catholic church when it comes to "do as I say, not as I do". The biggest collection of hypocrites in the entire world. They have to cheat to win because they are the minority. We need more people on the left willing to gerrymander in favor of democrats. Every time the republicans win a majority they try this. And then dems take it back and make it 'fair'. Enough is enough! Fight fire with fire for once!
As a Wisconsin vote: i plan on following my state reps around to any and all sessions they hold. It’s time to get vocal and get in the face of the tyrannical radical terrorists that are the Republican Party. No mercy for the group trying to silence the majority of Wisconsin voters.
Just a reminder to everyone that the Republican party of today will do ANYTHING to stay in power. It doesn't matter what voters want or voters do, they will lie, cheat, steal, rig, change every outcome that does not suit them. They will use every single dirty low down trick in the book and then some to get and keep power over others. Because they are scared to death of a fair fight. They are a party covered in mud and it is not going to wash off. And never believe any BS that they tell you. It is all made up to serve their ultimate purpose of gaining and keeping power, period! They are a party that only cares about power over others and nothing else. They are NOT to be trusted.
If she recuses on this issue, they will simply threaten to do it again on EVERY issue.
Don't resign, don’t recuse . Tell them to F off and try it.
They will lose their puny seats next cycle .
Never give these idiots an inch.
I am so goddam tired of "when they go low, we go high".
It does not work with these shameless autocrats.
I wonder if someone knows their strategy with this. A reporter who lives in the state said he was hearing they don’t intend to have a vote in the Senate so that she is neither removed, nor able to vote. That would keep the governor from making an appointment because there is no vacancy.
Strategically speaking, in such a situation, the Governor may be able to wait for her to resign and then appoint her?
Meanwhile, tie votes are losing votes. That is a problem.