Wisconsin Supreme Court invalidates current legislative maps

On a predictable 4-3 vote on the Friday before Christmas, the Wisconsin Supreme Court threw out the state’s current legislative maps, ruling them to constitute unconstitutional gerrymandering.

The reaction was just as predictable as the decision: It was an early gift from Santa for Democrats and a bag of switches for Republicans.

In its ruling, the court homed in on the principle of contiguity, that is, multiple districts have islands of land not connected to the rest of the district. The court directed the legislature to draw new maps, which must be acceptable to Gov. Tony Evers. The liberal majority said the court would draw its own lines if that attempt failed.

The Republican-controlled Legislature is expected to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Because the current state legislative districts contain separate, detached territory and therefore violate the constitution’s contiguity requirements, we enjoin the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the current legislative maps in future elections,” justice Jill J. Karofsky wrote for the majority.

Democrats hailed the decision as a victory for democracy. State Rep. Shelia Stubbs (D-Madison) said the voters of Wisconsin had had their day in court and won. 

“This decision marks the beginning of a fresh start for our state —one in which the values and priorities of all Wisconsinites will be fairly represented,” Stubbs said. “The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision is the first step toward a state Legislature that more accurately reflects the people it serves. This will be a major opportunity to build a democracy that is representative of all Wisconsin voices.”

State Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) said Christmas had come early for “democracy.”

“Today’s decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court is a win for every disenfranchised voter who for too long has had to suffer the policies of an illegitimate far-right majority in our legislature,” Larson said. “After years of craven partisanship in our state’s highest court, today is the start of restoring balance, order, and the rule of law. I appreciate their preference for the legislature to work together on remedial maps. I stand ready to work with legislative Republicans on the drafting of maps that are constitutional and fair.”

While Larson said no one yet knows what the final maps will look like, the senator said one thing was clear: “The days of unchecked one-party rule in a 50-50 state like Wisconsin are about to be over, and that is truly something to celebrate,” he said.

Former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder said the Republican-drawn maps had been egregiously gerrymandered.

“It is way past time to end illegitimate minority rule in Wisconsin, and this decision is a powerful step toward fair representation,” Holder said. “For more than a decade, Wisconsinites have been forced to live under unpopular policies enacted by artificial Republican legislative majorities, despite the fact that Democrats saw increasing — and sometimes majority — statewide support.”

But Wisconsinites never gave up, Holder said. 

“They organized,” he said. “They voted. They demonstrated that in order to protect democracy, we must do democracy. And that tenacity is forging a new chapter for the state, moving out from the shadow of Scott Walker’s and Robin Vos’s anti-democratic legacy of voter suppression and onto the path toward a truly representative democracy.”

Holder said there was still a long way to go.

“But Wisconsin proves that when the people participate, over time, states that may seem unreachable in the fight for fairness today, could indeed become beacons of justice in the years to come,” he said. “Wisconsin is now on that path.”

Holder, as chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), has made numerous forays into the state over the past half decade to mobilize voters and raise money. 

According to the NDRC, Holder made investments in the Wisconsin Supreme Court races in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2023. 

Republican: A not-so-merry holiday

To Republicans and conservatives, the court ruling was like the grinch stealing Christmas.

Former state attorney general Brad Schimel, who has already announced his candidacy for the Supreme Court election being held in early 2025, pointed out that Wisconsin’s legislative maps had already been reviewed and approved by both the Supreme Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. 

“It’s troubling that because the membership of a court changes, we can have a new outcome the following year,” Schimel said. “This should come as a surprise to no one. This is the super-legislature that was promised by this liberal majority. If there’s any question as to why I’m in this race, this is why. This kind of judicial activism will do long-term damage to our state and to respect for our courts.”

And Schimel said so one should expect that this case would be the last.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) also condemned the ruling, calling it an attempt to re-litigate issues resolved just a year and a half ago, utilizing a new ‘left of center’ majority on the state’s highest court. 

“Petitioners used a trojan horse —municipal islands that have existed for decades, affect very few voters and could not be the cause of any alleged partisan bias — to upend maps that the court approved in 2022,” Rick Esenberg, WILL president and general counsel, said. “We now face a truncated process in which the parties must submit new maps and comment on those submitted by others and address an undefined standard called ‘partisan fairness.’”

Esenberg called it an “unusual episode,” but he said WILL would strive to ensure that whatever emerges from the process will both comport with the law and Wisconsin’s political geography, “as the Constitution requires, rather than a gerrymander for a partisan outcome.”

Though the issues surrounding decennial redistricting were resolved by the Wisconsin Supreme Court just a year and a half ago, Esenberg said, petitioners sought to re-litigate the case. WILL intervened on behalf of voters from multiple state senate districts that Esenberg says will see their vote disenfranchised if the court grants the remedy sought by the lawsuit. 

Assembly speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said he had predicted the decision, but he said the court’s ruling did not mean the case is over.

“The case was pre-decided before it was even brought,” Vos said. “Sad day for our state when the state Supreme Court just said last year that the existing lines are constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court will have the last word.”

Senate majority leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) said the decision showed the liberal majority’s true colors.

“The Supreme Court’s decision today lays bare the new liberal majority’s core motivation: to benefit the unelected fundraisers and activists they are beholden to in the Democratic Party of Wisconsin,” LeMahieu said. “Justice Protasiewicz should have recused herself from this case. Instead, she cast the deciding vote on a case she had blatantly and publicly prejudged.”

State Republican Party chairman Brian Schimming said Democrats had decided to try elections in the courtroom rather than actually earn voters’ trust at the ballot box. 

“By throwing out these maps, left-wing jurists on the Wisconsin Supreme Court have usurped both their authority and the will of the majority of Wisconsinites who favor keeping existing districts,” Schimming said.