Skip to main content
Back to Resources

The Conversation: Wisconsin GOP’s impeachment threat against state Supreme Court justice is unsupported by law and would undermine judicial independence

Janet Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee circuit court judge and self-described progressive, won an 11-percentage point victory, shifting the court’s ideological balance of power at a moment when major legal clashes over abortion and redistricting are looming. Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature is now demanding that Protasiewicz recuse from – that is, excuse herself from – considering two recently filed lawsuits that challenge the state’s legislative maps, which heavily favor the GOP, as unlawful partisan gerrymanders. Legislators are threatening to impeach Protasiewicz if she hears the cases.