Justice Janet Protasiewicz's swearing-in ceremony as the latest judge on the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday marked a big achievement for Wisconsin Democrats — the state Supreme Court flipped to Democratic control for the first time in 15 years.
Protasiewicz, who focused her election campaign on abortion rights and criticizing the Republican-drawn redistricting maps, put an end to the conservative hold on the court. She is replacing retiring conservative Justice Pat Roggensack, who served on the court for 20 years, including six as chief justice. A Wisconsin Supreme Court justice's term is 10 years."We all want a Wisconsin where our freedoms are protected," Protasiewicz said at the ceremony.
Under conservative leadership, the court came one vote shy of overturning President Joe Biden’s slim victory in the state in 2020. However, Biden would have still had enough electoral college votes to secure the election without Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes. Challenges to the state’s abortion ban, Republican-drawn congressional district maps, and a battle over voting rules are expected to occur heading into the 2024 election cycle. One case that is challenging a pre-Civil War era abortion ban is already pending in the court, and a new lawsuit challenging the Republican-drawn congressional district maps is expected to be filed in the coming weeks.
Protasiewicz, a former circuit court judge, defeated her conservative opponent Dan Kelly in April. She previously spent 25 years as a prosecutor in the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office."All of those long hours led to an incredible opportunity to see our judicial system up close, and it allowed me to see what I believe is universal," Protasiewicz said Tuesday.
Although the court is officially considered nonpartisan, the three other"liberal" justices on the court consist of Justices Ann Walsh Bradley, Rebecca Dallet, and Jill Karofsky.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Wisconsin Supreme Court flips to liberal controlJanet Protasiewicz’s win carries tremendous weight in Wisconsin, where the state Supreme Court has been the last word on some of the biggest political and policy battles of the past decade-plus.
Read more »
Wisconsin lawsuit asks new liberal-controlled Supreme Court to toss Republican-drawn mapsA lawsuit filed with Wisconsin’s newly liberal-controlled state Supreme Court argues that Republican-drawn legislative maps are unconstitutional and must be redone
Read more »
Wisconsin lawsuit asks new liberal-controlled Supreme Court to toss Republican-drawn mapsDemocrat-backed voting rights groups asked Wisconsin's liberal-controlled Supreme Court to throw out Republican-drawn legislative maps as unconstitutional, the latest legal challenge that could upset political boundary lines before the 2024 election.
Read more »
Letters to the Editor: Justice Alito says the Supreme Court is no place for ethics rulesReaders say that if the justices don't want Congress to regulate their behavior, we should consider other actions to protect ethics on the court.
Read more »
In Wisconsin, a court that almost overturned Biden's win flips to liberal controlThe Wisconsin Supreme Court flips to liberal control for the first time in 15 years Tuesday with the start of the term of a new justice who made abortion rights a focus of her winning campaign. Janet Protasiewicz will mark the start of her term with a swearing-in ceremony in the state Capitol Rotunda, the type of pomp and circumstance typically reserved for governors. Protasiewicz's win carries tremendous weight in Wisconsin, a battleground where the state Supreme Court has been the last word on some of the biggest political and policy battles of the past decade-plus.
Read more »
In Wisconsin, a court that almost overturned Biden's win flips to liberal controlThe Wisconsin Supreme Court is flipping to liberal control for the first time in 15 years with the start of the term of a new justice who made abortion rights a focus of her winning campaign
Read more »