US Supreme Court Rejects State’s Legislative Maps

The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down the legislative redistricting plans drawn by Gov. Tony Evers and endorsed earlier this month by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, sending the dispute back to the state court to consider all over again.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s order denying the legislative maps found that Evers and the Wisconsin Supreme Court had erred in their interpretation of the federal Voting Rights Act as it pertains to redistricting.

The ruling is a win for Republican state lawmakers, but it isn’t necessarily the end of the road for Evers’ plan. The unsigned order from the court made clear that the state Supreme Court could still side with Evers.

“On remand, the court is free to take additional evidence if it prefers to reconsider the Governor’s maps rather than choose from among the other submissions,” read the court’s order. “Any new analysis, however, must comply with our equal protection jurisprudence.”

Justices Sonya Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented, with Sotomayor calling the majority’s ruling “unprecedented.”

“In an emergency posture, the Court summarily overturns a Wisconsin Supreme Court decision resolving a conflict over the State’s redistricting, a decision rendered after a 5-month process involving all interested stakeholders,” Sotomayor wrote. “Despite the fact that summary reversals are generally reserved for decisions in violation of settled law, the Court today faults the State Supreme Court for its failure to comply with an obligation that, under existing precedent, is hazy at best.”

In a separate order, the U.S. Supreme Court left congressional maps drawn by Evers in place, rejecting a request by Republican members of Congress to stay that ruling.

Editor’s note: This story will be updated.

US Supreme Court rejects legislative map drawn by Evers that was endorsed by Wisconsin Supreme Court was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.