Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects lawsuit to stop state lawmakers from impeaching a justice

The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit that sought to block state lawmakers from impeaching Justice Janet Protasiewicz, whose win flipped the high court to a liberal majority for the first time in 15 years last month.

The Supreme Court handed down its decision Tuesday to not hear the lawsuit, issuing the order without comment. The court said Protasiewicz did not participate in the decision.

The decision comes amid a push by state Republicans to consider impeaching Protasiewicz after the state Supreme Court was asked to consider two redistricting cases over the state’s legislative maps. 

Republicans have pointed to a comment Protasiewicz made during her campaign that the Republican-drawn maps are “rigged” and have threatened impeachment if she does not recuse herself on the cases. 

The lawsuit was brought to the Supreme Court earlier this month by the Rev. Elaine Hanson-Hysell and Deborah Anderson, who argued an impeachment proceeding would violate the constitutional rights of voters who elected Protasiewicz. 

The complaint argued the “political reasons” the lawmakers are providing as a basis for the impeachment violate the Wisconsin Constitution, which limits impeachment to those who have engaged in corrupt conduct in office or committed crimes. 

The complaint asked the court to block impeachment proceedings without a ruling by at least four members that the Wisconsin constitutional standards for impeachment have been met. 

Protasiewicz did not say on the campaign trail how she would rule on redistricting cases, though her comment raised concerns for Republicans looking to keep state legislative maps the same.

When states were required to redraw district boundaries after the 2020 census, the Republican-led state Legislature created maps to help boost their majority in the chambers. The state Supreme Court last year upheld the Republican-drawn maps in 2022. 

Just one day after Protasiewicz was sworn onto the bench, a coalition of law firms and voting rights advocacy groups filed suit with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, arguing the state legislative maps are unconstitutional gerrymander. 

Last week, former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justices Louis Butler and Janine Geske railed against Republicans’ push for impeachment in a column in the Wisconsin State Journal. The former justices argued that holding impeachment proceedings on Protasiewicz would “not only be inappropriate, but unconstitutional.”