Wisconsin
Conservatives intervene in Wisconsin’s mid-decade redistricting push as House majority hangs in the balance
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FIRST ON FOX: A conservative law firm has filed two motions to intervene in separate lawsuits seeking to overturn Wisconsin’s congressional maps, arguing that imposing new districts now would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.
Last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority ordered two three-judge panels to take up lawsuits alleging the state’s congressional map gives Republicans an unconstitutional advantage, as redistricting fights intensify nationwide ahead of next year’s midterms.
On behalf of a group of Wisconsin voters, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed motions to intervene this week, arguing the challenges are time-barred and that the newly appointed panel does not have the authority to overrule the state Supreme Court’s earlier decision approving the current congressional lines.
“Revisiting congressional lines this way, less than a year before the election, sows irreparable distrust in our country’s political process,” WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber told Fox News Digital. “We intervened on behalf of several Wisconsin voters to argue that overturning the current maps in this manner and imposing new ones would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.”
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The Wisconsin Supreme Court, controlled by a liberal majority, has sent two redistricting lawsuits to three-judge panels for review. The sun rises over the Wisconsin State Capitol Building on the day of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 1, 2025. (Reuters/Vincent Alban)
WILL’s motions dispute the plaintiffs’ characterizations of Wisconsin’s congressional map as a “partisan gerrymander” or “anti-competitive.”
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“These claims are all meritless,” Vebber said, noting first that any challenge to the current map should have been brought when the map was adopted. “And on the merits, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has already determined that partisan gerrymandering is not a justiciable claim here in Wisconsin.”
Vebber said the lawsuits violate federal law by pushing for districts drawn to reflect statewide partisan totals instead of local representation, and by asking courts to assume a redistricting role the Constitution assigns to state legislatures.
He also argued that a court-ordered “mid-decade redraw” would violate the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, calling it “precisely what the U.S. Supreme Court has advised state courts not to do.”
According to WILL, these motions represent the fourth and fifth time the conservative law firm has defended Wisconsin’s congressional maps in court.
When the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the state’s current congressional map drawn by Gov. Tony Evers, D-Wisc., in 2022 following the 2020 census, WILL said that should have been “the end to the legal and political posturing until the 2030 census.”
Instead, the group said that various organizations have repeatedly attempted to challenge the map using “a variety of legal theories.”
As redistricting battles continue nationwide, Texas recently filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court after a panel of federal judges blocked the state from using its new congressional map, ruling that several districts were “racially gerrymandered.”
Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Susan Crawford waves during her election night party after winning the high-stakes election on Tuesday, April 1, 2025, in Madison, Wisconsin. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf)
Meanwhile, California voters passed Proposition 50 this year, allowing the state to move forward with a new congressional map expected to create up to five Democratic-leaning districts, in what Democrats say is an effort to counter Republican-backed redistricting efforts in states like Texas.
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Missouri and North Carolina have already redrawn congressional lines, and states like Ohio are moving ahead with new maps as redistricting battles play out in courts nationwide ahead of next year’s midterm elections with control of the House and Senate, and Trump’s legislative agenda, hanging in the balance.
Wisconsin
Wisconsin authorities put total arrests from clashes at beagle breeding facility at about 25
MADISON (AP) — Around 25 protesters were arrested as around 1,000 animal welfare activists tried to gain entry to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin and were met by officers firing pepper spray and rubber bullets, authorities said Sunday.
Saturday’s protest was the second attempt in as many months by demonstrators to take beagles from Ridglan Farms in Blue Mounds, about 25 miles (about 40 kilometers) southwest of the capital, Madison. They were turned back by officers who arrested the group’s leader.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office said the situation was “significantly calmer and more peaceful” on Sunday, when around 200 people assembled outside the farm. They dispersed after around two hours, it said.
“We’re pleased with the group’s cooperation today, and their willingness to remain peaceful, while still sending their message of concern for the dogs at Ridglan Farms,” Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a statement. “We are happy to support anyone who wants to exercise the right to protest, as long as they do so lawfully.”
Owen Ziliak/The Wisconsin State Journal via AP
The sheriff had said in a video statement Saturday that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property.” They tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence.
Owen Ziliak/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Some got through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Amber Arnold/Wisconsin State Journal via AP
Those arrested included the leader of the Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs, Wayne Hsiung, 44, of New York, who was being held on a tentative felony charge of conspiracy to commit burglary. But most arrestees were just booked and released, the sheriff’s office said Sunday.
“No one should be assaulted for giving aid to a dog, even if damage to property is part of that rescue effort,” Hsuing said in a statement from jail Sunday that also accused authorities of using excessive force. “The animals of this Earth are not “things.” They’re sentient beings. And we have the right to rescue them from abuse,” he concluded.
Protesters took 30 dogs when they broke into the facility in March, when authorities arrested 27 people.
Ridglan denies mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 in a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website, the company says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
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About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry on Saturday to a beagle breeding and research facility in Wisconsin were turned back by police who fired rubber bullets and pepper spray into the crowd and arrested the group’s leader.
It was the second attempt in as many months by protesters to take beagles from the Ridglan Farms facility in Blue Mounds, a small town about 25 miles (about 40 kilometres) southwest of Wisconsin’s capital, Madison.
Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett said in a video statement that 300 to 400 protesters were “violently trying to break into the property” and assault officers. He said protesters have ignored designated areas for peaceful protest and blocked roads to prevent emergency vehicles from entering.
“This is not a peaceful protest,” Barrett said.
The sheriff’s department said a “significant” number of people were arrested out of about 1,000 protesters at the site but did not give an exact total as they were still being processed as of the afternoon.
Protesters tried to overcome barricades that included a manure-filled trench, hay bales and a barbed-wire fence. Some protesters did get through the fence but were unable to enter the facility, where an estimated 2,000 beagles are kept, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde reflects on early March Madness exit
Wisconsin guard Andrew Rohde said the Badgers ‘thought we could do so many things’ in the NCAA Tournament before it ended abrupty with an upset loss.
Wisconsin men’s basketball has added a sharpshooting wing via the transfer portal.
Miami (Ohio) transfer Eian Elmer has signed with the Badgers, the team announced April 18. The 6-foot-7 wing will join UW with one year of eligibility remaining.
Elmer averaged a career-high 12.7 points and 5.9 rebounds while shooting 49.8% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range in 2025-26. His production helped the RedHawks go 32-2 and earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
“We are really excited to add another excellent addition to our spring signees,” UW coach Greg Gard said in a release. “Eian brings a wealth of experience and scoring punch as a 6-7 wing. … A terrific shooter, his skillset and production fit excellently into our plan as we build out next year’s team. Throughout our evaluation process, our staff loved his size, power and skill and truly believe he will thrive in our system.”
Elmer is Wisconsin’s third transfer portal addition since the end of the 2025-26 season, joining former George Washington guard Trey Autry and former Hofstra forward Victory Onuetu. UW also added Australian guard Owen Foxwell.
The additions of Autry, Onuetu and now Elmer leave Gard’s staff with three more roster spots to fill ahead of the 2026-27 season.
The Badgers are looking to replace much of their production from a 2025-26 team that went 24-11. Nolan Winter is expected to be the team’s only returning starter after John Blackwell and Aleksas Bieliauskas entered the transfer portal and Nick Boyd and Andrew Rohde exhausted their eligibility.
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