Wisconsin’s GOP members of Congress want the chance to urge the state Supreme Court to reject a challenge to the state’s House districts rather than moving forward with a novel approach to hear such lawsuits.
Republican lawmakers in 2011 passed legislation directing the state Supreme Court to appoint a panel of three circuit court judges to hear any challenge to a congressional or legislative district.
But attorney Misha Tseytlin on Friday sent the justices a letter arguing the court should hear arguments on whether an “inferior tribunal” has the power under the Wisconsin Constitution to overturn maps that the state Supreme Court put in place in 2022.
The attorneys for those seeking to overturn the maps filed a response with the court yesterday urging it to dismiss the request “and instead follow the clear statutory mandate that this Court appoint a three-judge panel to hear” the merits of their lawsuit.
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Law Forward filed the lawsuit last week on behalf of the Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy and others arguing the state’s congressional map is an “anti-competitive gerrymander” that is an “affront” to the state Constitution. Republicans hold a 6-2 edge in the Wisconsin House delegation.
Among other things, the Law Forward suit alleges Wisconsin’s congressional seats are so uncompetitive that it violates the equal protection guarantee, the promise of a free government and the right to vote laid out in the state Constitution.
In its filing, the firm wants the Supreme Court to follow the 2011 state law that states the justices must appoint the three-judge panel after receiving a challenge such as the one Law Forward filed.
The process has never fully been used before. The court in 2011 received a request under the law and ordered briefing on jurisdictional issues from overlapping redistricting suits filed with the justices and in Waukesha County. But it dismissed the suit.
Tseytlin argued the parties to the suit Law Forward filed should address whether a challenge to a map the court put in place should be brought to the justices through a motion for reconsideration to its 2022 order or a petition for original action. The court has already rejected such requests, including an order last month shooting down two requests to redraw the congressional map ahead of the 2026 election.
But Law Forward attorney Doug Poland countered the issues raised by the House Republicans should be addressed by the three-judge tribunal and allowing the briefing at this stage could “mire” the court in endless briefing.
“This Court can, and should, use this opportunity—nearly six years before redistricting in the wake of the 2030 decennial census—to establish a thoughtful, measured, and procedurally proper template for future invocations of these untested venue statutes unique to redistricting actions,” Poland wrote.
