Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who once threatened to impeach Wisconsin’s new liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz if she did not recuse herself from cases that could result in the court tossing GOP-drawn legislative maps, now calls that prospect “super unlikely.”
Republicans have discussed impeaching the justice for months after liberal groups filed redistricting lawsuits within a day of Protasiewicz’s swearing-in in August. Protasiewicz’s seat flipped the long-standing conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court for the first time in 15 years, and the state’s highest court now holds a 4-3 Democratic majority.
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“It’s one of the tools that we have in our toolbox that we could use at any time,” Vos said of impeachment in an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday. “Is it going to be used? I think it’s super unlikely.”
Vos did not rule out impeachment altogether, saying, “We don’t know what could happen, right? There could be a scandal where something occurs. I don’t know.”
State Republicans filed a motion seeking to remove Protasiewicz from the two lawsuits weeks after she was sworn in. In October, Protasiewicz said she would not recuse herself from hearing the lawsuits.
“In deciding this motion, I have searched the law books — and my conscience — to ensure a correct and impartial ruling,” Protasiewicz wrote in a 48-page order. “I have reviewed the parties’ arguments. I have studied the facts. And I have examined every relevant precedent. Ultimately, I have found I must deny the recusal motion.”
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Protasiewicz has been vocal about her opposition to the Republican-drawn districts, calling the maps “rigged” and pushing for them to be reviewed during her campaign to serve on the state’s Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in November in the lawsuit, filed on Aug. 2 by Law Forward, a coalition of law firms and voting rights advocacy groups. They asked all 132 state lawmakers to be up for election, including those not slated to be on the 2024 ballot — and the highest court is expected to make a ruling soon.
