The News: The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed motions to intervene in two lawsuits seeking to overturn Wisconsin’s Congressional Maps. Seeking again to defend those maps on behalf of a group of Wisconsin voters, WILL argues that these new lawsuits are time-barred, the three-judge panel lacks authority to overrule the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and any attempt to impose new maps in this manner would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

The Quote: WILL Deputy Counsel, Lucas Vebber, stated, “Revisiting congressional lines this way, less than a year before the election, sows irreparable distrust in our country’s political process. We intervened on behalf of several Wisconsin voters to argue that overturning the current maps in this manner and imposing new ones would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.”

Additional Background: Redistricting battles have become a recurring issue in Wisconsin since the 2020 census. In 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted new congressional maps drawn by Governor Tony Evers to correct population changes that occurred over the previous decade. This should have been the end to the legal and political posturing until the 2030 census. But various groups have repeatedly tried to challenge the congressional maps using a variety of legal theories. The Wisconsin Supreme Court had already denied two earlier attempts to challenge the Congressional maps, including just last summer. These most recent cases, filed in Dane County, are the third attempt.

WILL Fought Politically Driven Map Challenges Every Step of the Way: After these cases were filed, the Wisconsin Supreme Court asked for briefing on whether these were the type of cases that the statute required a three-judge panels to be appointed for. In October, WILL filed briefs detailing three major problems with the lawsuits. First, they both inappropriately asked a lower court in Madison to overrule the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Second, the challenges were filed far too late, referencing maps from 2011 that have long been replaced. Finally, the claims lacked merit. One case brought claims under a partisan gerrymandering theory has been repeatedly rejected by state and federal courts – including the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and the other case brought an “anti-competitive gerrymandering” claim which has not been legally recognized anywhere, and would have many other unintended consequences.

This is the fourth and fifth time WILL has defended Wisconsin’s Congressional Maps in court. WILL continues to defend the legal process, including the Legislature’s sole authority and responsibility to draw legislative and congressional maps, as provided in the United States Constitution.

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