GOP leader backs down from impeachment threat against Wisconsin Supreme Court justice
11 October 2023
When Janet Protasiewicz enjoyed a double-digit victory over far-right Christian nationalist Dan Kelly in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race earlier this year, it was a major setback for MAGA Republicans in a key battleground state.
Protasiewicz didn't run as a Democrat; it was technically a nonpartisan race. But she aggressively campaigned on top Democratic issues — abortion rights, voting rights, partisan gerrymandering — and won.
Some MAGA Republicans have called for impeaching Justice Protasiewicz from the Wisconsin Supreme Court. But according to Washington Post journalist Patrick Marley, their efforts aren't going well.
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Republican Robin Vos, speaker for the Wisconsin State Assembly, threatened to proceed with impeachment efforts against Protasiewicz if she didn't recuse herself from a case involving legislative districts. But the justice refused.
Marley explains, "Rather than move ahead with impeachment proceedings, as threatened, Vos fell silent…. Her decision to remain on the case raises the likelihood the court will redraw the district lines before next year's election. Republicans view the case as an existential threat to their large majorities in the legislature, but Vos' reaction to Protasiewicz's decision to remain on the case was restrained."
The Associated Press' Scott Bauer reports that former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser, in an e-mail, advised Vos against trying to impeach Protasiewicz. The watchdog group American Oversight obtained a copy of that e-mail, according to Bauer.
Prosser told Vos, "To sum up my views, there should be no effort to impeach Justice Protasiewicz on anything we know now. Impeachment is so serious, severe, and rare that it should not be considered unless the subject has committed a crime, or the subject has committed indisputable 'corrupt conduct' while 'in office.'"