WILL Judge Shops To Kill Mask Mandate
Conservative group files suit in Polk County, where both judges were appointed by Scott Walker.
Thankfully, the 43,598 residents of Polk County in northwest Wisconsin have not been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of last Thursday, there had been 73,138 positive COVID-19 tests across Wisconsin, and only 167 of them in Polk County. Of the 1,111 pandemic deaths statewide, two were in Polk County. The virus incident rate per 100,000 residents was 385 in Polk County — less than one-third of the statewide average of 1,265.
Yet, when the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) sued to overturn two public health emergency declarations issued by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, where did it file that lawsuit?
It’s the latest example of judge shopping, which is allowed because Republican legislators and GOP Gov. Scott Walker elected in 2010 rewrote state law to allow state government to be sued in any county. Republicans felt that judges in Dane County — seat of state government — were too predictably liberal.
Judge shopping occurs when an individual or organization sues in a county where plaintiffs think judges may be more likely to agree with the claims in their lawsuit. Both of Polk County’s Circuit Court judges – Jeff Anderson and Daniel Tolan — were appointed by Walker.
Polk County is also part of the 3rd District Court of Appeals, which would hear any appeal of a decision by Anderson or Tolan. Two of the three 3rd District Court of Appeals judges — Chief Judge Lisa Stark and Judge Thomas Hruz — were also appointed by Walker. Stark won a full term in 2013; Hruz won a full term in 2016. The third judge in that district, Mark Seidel, was elected in 2015.
No one knows how Polk County and 3rd District Court of Appeals judges will rule on the WILL lawsuit. But WILL thinks its odds of winning are higher in Polk County than they would be in Dane or Milwaukee counties.
An Ozaukee County judge agreed, ordered the names of those voters purged and held Elections Commission members in contempt. The appeal of those orders are pending before the state Supreme Court, where conservatives have a 4-3 majority.
But back to WILL’s lawsuit in Polk County, where — the suit admits — COVID-19 “has not greatly impacted” that county.
The suit alleges that Evers illegally declared two back-to-back public health emergencies in March and July. The July order included the statewide “Mask Up Wisconsin” edict to fight the spread of COVID-19.
Yet, insisted Rick Esenberg, WILL’s president and founder, “This lawsuit is not about whether masks are good or bad, or whether Wisconsin ought to do more, or less, to address COVID-19.”
“It isn’t even about whether the state should have a mask mandate,” Esenberg added. “This lawsuit is about our system of government and the rule of law. Gov. Evers cannot seize these time-limited emergency powers more than once without legislative approval.”
Still, the second page of the lawsuit makes it clear that repealing the mask order is a primary goal of the lawsuit.
Evers “unlawfully” extended the state of emergency for a second 60 days for the same reason – the COVID-19 pandemic – “without approval by the Legislature,” according to the lawsuit.
Let’s, as Evers often says, connect some dots. After Evers issued the “mask up” order, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald wanted both houses of the Republican-controlled Legislature to convene and overturn that order. But Assembly Speaker Robin Vos refused to bring Assembly Republicans back to the Capitol to cast that vote. Why? Maybe because the last Marquette University poll found that 69 percent of respondents statewide supported wearing face masks to fight the pandemic.
Hopefully, Vos added, “citizens groups” would fight the statewide mask edict. WILL just did.
Steven Walters is a senior producer for the nonprofit public affairs channel WisconsinEye. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com
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More about the Coronavirus Pandemic
- WI Daily: 840 New COVID-19 Cases - Urban Milwaukee - Feb 25th, 2021
- Evers Signs Bill on Unemployment System - Laurel White - Feb 25th, 2021
- DHS Announces Groups Eligible for COVID-19 Vaccine on March 1 - Wisconsin Department of Health Services - Feb 25th, 2021
- Milwaukee Health Department Adjusts Testing Hours at American Family Field - City of Milwaukee Health Department - Feb 25th, 2021
- WI Daily: 747 New COVID-19 Cases - Urban Milwaukee - Feb 24th, 2021
- State Creates 4 Community Vaccine Clinics - Megan Hart - Feb 24th, 2021
- State Vaccination Rate Increasing - Graham Kilmer - Feb 24th, 2021
- Wisconsin’s Emergency Powers Laws in Urgent Need of Reform - Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty - Feb 24th, 2021
- Souls to the Polls Urges Sen. Johnson to Vote ‘Yes’ on COVID-19 Relief Bill in the U.S. Senate - Souls to the Polls Milwaukee - Feb 24th, 2021
- WI Daily: 566 New COVID-19 Cases - Urban Milwaukee - Feb 23rd, 2021
Read more about Coronavirus Pandemic here
More about the Statewide Mask Mandate
- Suit Asks State Supreme Court to Toss Mask Order - Erik Gunn - Feb 11th, 2021
- Op Ed: Why the War on Masks? Gerrymandering - Mel Barnes - Feb 7th, 2021
- Will Supreme Court Act on Mask Mandate? - Erik Gunn - Feb 6th, 2021
- Rep. Robyn Vining Supports Wearing Masks to Save Lives - State Rep. Robyn Vining - Feb 5th, 2021
- Rep. Rodriguez: Authors Legislation to Create Statewide Mask Order - State Rep. Sara Rodriguez - Feb 5th, 2021
- Democrats Take Action to Protect Public Health - State Sen. Jon Erpenbach - Feb 5th, 2021
- Rep. Bowen Statement on Senate Joint Resolution 3 and Executive Order #105 - State Rep. David Bowen - Feb 4th, 2021
- Republicans End Mask Mandate, Evers Puts It Back In Place - Jeramey Jannene - Feb 4th, 2021
- Rep. Robyn Vining Responds to Assembly Republicans’ Actions to Disregard the Lives and Livelihoods of Wisconsinites - State Rep. Robyn Vining - Feb 4th, 2021
- Gov. Evers Puts Public Health Before Politics, Signs New Public Health Emergency - Gov. Tony Evers - Feb 4th, 2021
Read more about Statewide Mask Mandate here
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Why is WILL working to eliminate a State Order that will save lives, limit the spread of the pandemic, and get out economy going again? This firm has no morals or commitment to the common good. This lawsuit is meant to create more chaos in the State and generate some publicity for WILL.
Yet another legacy of the 2010 election when too many people didn’t vote. The perfect storm of apathy and resurgent republican extremism – resulting in the 2010 winners being in charge of the reapportionment and laws like the one cited in the article. GOTV!