Wisconsin Supreme Court Liberals Vote to Reduce Powers of Conservative Chief Justice
In a move that has sparked controversy and deep divisions, liberals who recently gained majority control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted on Friday to reduce the powers of the conservative chief justice and implement a series of changes to how the court operates. Chief Justice Annette Ziegler criticized her liberal colleagues, accusing them of an overreach of power. This marks the second time in three days that Ziegler has accused her colleagues of such actions.
Liberal Justice Rebecca Dallet defended the moves, stating that they were intended to make the court “more accessible and more accountable to the people of Wisconsin.” However, the public airing of conflicts within the court sets the stage for potential divisions on major cases that could impact the legality of abortions, voting rules, and legislative boundary lines.
Conservatives had controlled the court for 15 years until this recent shift in power. During their tenure, the court upheld Republican-drawn legislative maps in 2011, affirmed a state law that limited collective bargaining for public workers, and declared absentee ballot drop boxes illegal.
The court has a history of deep partisan divisions, with tensions reaching a boiling point in 2011 when a liberal justice accused a conservative colleague of attempting to choke her during a case about collective bargaining rights.
The recent vote by liberal justices includes a range of changes to how the court operates, such as reducing the powers of the chief justice, making administrative meetings open to the public, and establishing a committee to study when justices should recuse themselves from cases. The court’s administrative conferences had been open to the public since 1999 until conservatives closed them in 2012.
Ziegler accused the four liberal justices of holding a “secret, unscheduled, illegitimate closed meeting” in an attempt to undermine her constitutional authority as the court’s administrator. She deemed any such action as “illegitimate and unenforceable.” In response, Dallet criticized Ziegler for publicly litigating issues that are typically discussed privately, calling it “deeply inappropriate.”
The conflict between the justices escalated when the four liberal justices voted to fire the state court director, Randy Koschnick. Republican legislative leaders sent a letter to the court arguing that the appointment of a Milwaukee County judge as interim court director was unconstitutional. They demanded that her appointment be rescinded. However, any lawsuit over this matter would ultimately be decided by the state Supreme Court, which is now controlled by the very justices who fired Koschnick.
The court is expected to face several major cases, including redistricting, abortion rights, voting rules for the 2024 presidential election, and challenges to union rights. These cases have the potential to shape the political landscape in Wisconsin and have far-reaching implications.
The recent changes made by the liberal justices have further fueled the
