DPW Files Federal Lawsuit Over Republicans' Lame-Duck Power Grab |
News |
Written by Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Courtney Beyer |
Friday, 22 February 2019 16:46 |
Lawsuit alleges Republicans' legislation violated Democratic voters' federal constitutional rights. MADISON - The Democratic Party of Wisconsin today filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop the unprecedented and illegal laws passed by Republicans during December’s lame-duck session. The laws, which stripped Governor Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul of their traditional powers shortly after they were elected, are being challenged under the United States Constitution’s Guarantee Clause, the First Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs from each congressional district in Wisconsin are also part of the federal lawsuit, which alleges that the lame-duck laws are invalid because they effectively blunted the results of the 2018 election by taking away traditional executive powers from the governor and attorney general only after a Democrat was elected to those posts, and because the only purpose of the lame-duck laws was to retaliate against Democratic voters for exercising their right to vote, to discourage them from mobilizing in the future, and to deny Democratic voters the same treatment their votes would receive if they belonged to another party. “Not only did Republicans ignore the will of the people when they passed these laws, they also denied voters their core constitutional rights,” said Martha Laning, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. "These eight plaintiffs voted for Democratic leadership because they wanted to see progressive reforms enacted. By rushing through legislation with the explicit intent of denying the implementation of Democratic ideas, they violated the U.S. Constitution’s promise of principled state government, freedom of speech, and equal protection under the law.” “The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is taking legal action today because we refuse to allow these unconstitutional acts to stand. The will of the people is the law of the land, and it’s about time Republicans respected that,” added Laning. The case, DPW v. Vos et al., was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. |