Federal court partially pauses Wisconsin redistricting case but says it will decide election maps if needed
Patrick MarleyMADISON — Federal judges have partially paused a redistricting lawsuit but say they are committed to drawing new legislative and congressional maps if lawmakers and the state Supreme Court won't.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers and members of Congress are seeking to intervene in a separate lawsuit on the issue before Wisconsin's high court.
The fight over the election maps is playing out before two courts because the stakes are so high. Where the lines go will determine whether either side has an advantage in elections for the next decade.
A panel of three federal judges hearing one case on Wednesday agreed to pause proceedings until at least Nov. 5. But the panel said it would continue to plan for a January trial because it's not clear lawmakers and the state Supreme Court will deal with the maps.
Wisconsin's maps likely will be decided by the courts because Republicans who control the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers are unlikely to agree on them. The panel of judges noted federal courts have handled past cases in recent decades, with the state Supreme Court last getting involved in 1964.
More:A look back at the 2011 gerrymander and what it tells us about the redistricting fight to come
"Federal rights are at stake, so this court will stand by to draw the maps — should it become necessary," the panel wrote in Wednesday's order. "The court recognizes that responsibility for redistricting falls first to the states, and that this court should minimize any interference with the state’s own redistricting efforts. But the Wisconsin Supreme Court did not commit to drawing new legislative or congressional maps, and has not yet set a schedule to do so, or even to decide whether it will do so."
The panel consists of Amy St. Eve, a judge on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago; Edmond Chang, a district judge in Chicago; and James Peterson, a district judge in Madison.
Republican lawmakers have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the federal case, saying the issue should be left to the state.
The state Supreme Court last month agreed on a 4-3 vote to take a challenge to how the maps are drawn. The state justices have not signaled what, if anything, they will do on the matter.
On Wednesday, several people asked to intervene in that case — Evers, Wisconsin's Republican congressional delegation, Republican state lawmakers, Democratic state senators, a group of Democratic voters and a group of statisticians and mathematicians.
All states are required to draw new legislative and congressional districts to account for changes in population detected in last year's census.
Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.