MADISON – Over the course of a week, extremist politicians in the Wisconsin State Legislature have both threatened to impeach a duly elected state Supreme Court justice before she has even decided a case and voted to reject the confirmation of Wisconsin’s nationally recognized top elections administrator – a move by the Senate done without legal authority based on analysis from the non-partisan Wisconsin Legislative Council and a lawsuit filed Thursday by the state’s Attorney General.
Following two fraught state legislative floor sessions Thursday – which included a Senate vote to remove Wisconsin’s chief election official as well as the passage of a redistricting bill rushed through the Assembly shortly before midnight without a committee vote or public hearing – the ACLU of Wisconsin issued a statement today sounding the alarm over the state of Wisconsin’s democracy after an onslaught of recent attacks.
Dr. Melinda Brennan, Executive Director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, said the following:
“This is not a drill. We are witnessing fringe, anti-democracy antics this week. From threats to remove a duly elected supreme court justice, or votes to improperly remove a competent, top election official from office, to working to change laws without committee review or public hearing in order to preserve unfair advantages in elections – what we have seen in the last week demonstrates that Wisconsin’s democracy is in dire straits. Some politicians across the country have demonstrated a growing willingness to overlook – or even overturn – the will of the voters in service of their own interests. It has to end for the sake of all Wisconsinites.”
The ACLU of Wisconsin’s statement, published Wednesday, on the potential impeachment attempt of a state Supreme Court Justice can be found here: aclu-wi.org/en/press-releases/aclu-wisconsin-calls-potential-impeachment-supreme-court-justice-attack-democracy
