The Wisconsin Supreme Court has asked parties to file briefs on whether two redistricting lawsuits filed in Dane County Circuit Court should be allowed to proceed.
The court issued its order in response to two requests asking justices to appoint a judicial panel to consider the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s congressional voting map ahead of the 2026 midterms.
The lawsuits were filed in circuit court in July by two liberal law firms. They asked the Supreme Court to appoint three-judge panels to decide whether Wisconsin’s congressional districts are unconstitutional. Until Thursday, the court hadn’t responded.
This week, an attorney representing plaintiffs in one of those cases sent a letter to the Supreme Court stating a Dane County judge denied their request to set a briefing schedule in the case because doing so would violate the law passed by the Legislature more than a decade before.
On Thursday, the majority responded. Instead of appointing the judicial panel requested by the liberal firms, they ordered legal briefs arguing whether or not the lawsuits filed in Dane County constitute a valid “action to challenge the apportionment of a congressional or state legislative district.”
Conservative Justice Annette Ziegler “reluctantly” concurred with the court’s order, but warned fellow justices “that this court should not redraw partisan maps, especially since the issue has already been settled.”
Ziegler was referring to a redistricting challenge filed in 2021 in which the court ordered any new maps make the least changes possible. While Wisconsin’s current eight-district congressional map was drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, it largely resembles the map drawn by Republicans a decade earlier when they controlled all of state government.
Zeigler said the legal challenges to the state’s congressional map have been “repeatedly mounted and consistently denied.” She said she reluctantly agreed with the majority’s call for briefs to discuss the validity of the challenges in Dane County Circuit Court, but noted “briefing should not be confused with a decision to grant relief sought.”
“Constitutionally, it is the responsibility of the legislature and the governor — not the judiciary — to redistrict,” Zeigler said. “This case has been filed long after the completion of the most recent decennial census. Unlike the past, this filing does not come to the court because of an impasse between the political branches requiring this court to act so that partisan elections can occur.”