Current:Home > MyFormer Wisconsin Supreme Court justice fights order to appear in court over impeachment advice -Ascend Wealth Education
Former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice fights order to appear in court over impeachment advice
View
Date:2025-04-18 04:51:09
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice is fighting a subpoena ordering her to appear in court in a lawsuit related to advice she gave about possible impeachment of a current liberal justice, calling it “unreasonable and oppressive.”
Republican lawmakers have threatened possible impeachment of current Justice Janet Protasiewicz related to comments she made during the campaign calling GOP-drawn legislative maps “rigged” and “unfair.” She joined with the liberal majority of the court in agreeing to hear a lawsuit supported by Democrats that seeks to overturn the GOP maps and enact new ones.
Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos asked three former conservative Supreme Court justices for advice on impeachment. Two of the three told him that impeaching Protasiewicz was not warranted. The third, former Chief Justice Patience Roggensack, has not said what her advice was and Vos has repeatedly refused to disclose it.
The liberal watchdog group American Oversight filed a lawsuit alleging that the three former justices researching impeachment for Vos had violated both the state open meetings and open records laws. American Oversight wants the judge to order the former justices to meet in public and to release records related to their work. It was also seeking attorneys fees.
Last week, Roggensack received a subpoena compelling her to attend a hearing in the case was scheduled for this Thursday. On Monday, she asked to be released from the subpoena.
“I believe it would be unreasonable and oppressive to require me to appear at a hearing on a motion for preliminary injunction and even for the Court to consider such a motion,” Roggensack wrote.
The judge scheduled another hearing for Wednesday afternoon, likely to address Roggensack’s request.
Roggensack, in her affidavit with the court, said the order being sought, which included requiring the former justices to meet in public, would impair her First Amendment rights of freedom of expression, peaceably assembling and petitioning the government.
Roggensack said that Vos, the Republican legislator, asked for her advice on impeachment. Roggensack said she told him she had been researching the issue on her own “because I found the topic to be interesting and because I had not previously considered the standards for impeachment of a Supreme Court justice.”
Roggensack said she never considered Vos’s request to mean she was becoming part of a governmental body or committee as American Oversight alleged in its lawsuit.
Vos himself called the effort a panel when he announced in September that he was seeking their advice.
Roggensack said she had a lunch with the other two former justices, David Prosser and Jon Wilcox, along with Vos’s attorney. Prosser and Wilcox have also said that was the only meeting the three former justices had. They all said that they separately advised Vos and did not collaborate on their advice.
American Oversight filed open records requests with the former justices. Prosser released the email he sent Vos that included his impeachment advice, as well as voicemail messages from Roggensack and text messages they exchanged.
Neither Wilcox, Roggensack, nor Vos’ office have responded to its requests for records, American Oversight said.
Vos originally said he was considering impeachment if Protasiewicz did not recuse herself from the redistricting case. She didn’t recuse. Vos didn’t move to impeach her, following the advice against impeachment from the former justices. But now he’s suggesting he may attempt to impeach her if she does not rule in favor of upholding the current Republican maps.
The Wisconsin Constitution reserves impeachment for “corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors.”
veryGood! (36378)
Related
- Sarah J. Maas books explained: How to read 'ACOTAR,' 'Throne of Glass' in order.
- After Katrina, New Orleans’ Climate Conundrum: Fight or Flight?
- House Republicans request interviews with Justice Department officials in Hunter Biden probe
- Power Plants on Indian Reservations Get No Break on Emissions Rules
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Investors Pressure Oil Giants on Ocean Plastics Pollution
- Jennifer Hudson Celebrates Son David's Middle School Graduation
- Supreme Court blocks student loan forgiveness plan, dealing blow to Biden
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- 24-Hour Solar Energy: Molten Salt Makes It Possible, and Prices Are Falling Fast
Ranking
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Interactive: Superfund Sites Vulnerable to Climate Change
- U.S. hostage envoy says call from Paul Whelan after Brittney Griner's release was one of the toughest he's ever had
- Michigan Tribe Aims to Block Enbridge Pipeline Spill Settlement
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- A Timeline of Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall's Never-Ending Sex and the City Feud
- Cameron Boyce Honored by Descendants Co-Stars at Benefit Almost 4 Years After His Death
- 83-year-old man becomes street musician to raise money for Alzheimer's research
Recommendation
Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
Where Jill Duggar Stands With Her Controversial Family Today
Spoil Your Dad With the Best Father's Day Gift Ideas Under $50 From Nordstrom Rack
ChatGPT maker OpenAI sued for allegedly using stolen private information
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Wage theft often goes unpunished despite state systems meant to combat it
How Much Does Climate Change Cost? Biden Raises Carbon’s Dollar Value, but Not by Nearly Enough, Some Say
What are people doing with the Grimace shake? Here's the TikTok trend explained.