Wisconsin
Wisconsin GOP congressmen call for Protasiewicz recusal in new maps case
Five Republican members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation are calling on Justice Janet Protasiewicz to recuse herself from hearing a case that seeks to redraw the state’s congressional districts.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has not yet said whether it will hear the case, which was filed earlier this month and draws upon an earlier court ruling that overturned Wisconsin’s state legislative maps.
When the high court ruled the legislative maps unconstitutional, it changed the standard by which the court evaluates redistricting. The lawsuit challenging the congressional maps argues that they must be redrawn according to that changed standard, too.
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In a court filing Monday, five of the six Wisconsin Republicans who sit in the U.S. House of Representatives intervened in a motion calling on Protasiewicz to recuse herself from hearing the case if it comes before the state Supreme Court.
The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, or WILL, and the GOP-held state Legislature also signed onto the call for recusal.
The petitioners argue that Protasiewicz pre-judged the case while on the campaign trail and has a personal interest in its outcome because the Democratic Party of Wisconsin donated $10 million to her campaign.
In particular, they point to comments she made when campaigning for office last spring criticizing the makeup of Wisconsin’s delegation in Washington, where six of eight seats are held by Republicans.
They also argue that the Democratic Party dollars backing her candidacy incentivized Protasiewicz to rule in favor of new maps, which would likely decrease the number of Republican districts.
“A justice cannot decide a case she has prejudged or when her participation otherwise creates a serious risk of actual bias,” the filing argues. “Justice Protasiewicz’s public campaign statements establish a constitutionally intolerable risk that she has prejudged the merits of this case.”
These same arguments were levied against Protasiewicz during the court case that resulted in the state legislative maps being overturned. Protasiewicz declined to recuse, and that case was ultimately decided 4-3, with the liberal majority — Protasiewicz included — finding those maps unconstitutional.
While those districts are in the process of being redrawn, it is expected that any outcome will decrease Republican representation in the state Senate and Assembly.
The congressional lawsuit could likewise change Wisconsin’s national representation. Six of the state’s eight congressional districts are currently held by Republicans, and only two are seen as competitive.
The lawsuit contends that new congressional maps would offer voters more fair representation in a purple state.
One of Wisconsin’s Republican members of Congress — U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden — did not sign onto the petition for recusal. Van Orden’s 3rd Congressional District, which comprises much of western Wisconsin and the cities of Eau Claire, La Crosse and Stevens Point, is seen as the state’s most competitive U.S. House seat.
Those who did sign on include U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil, Glenn Grothman, Mike Gallagher, Tom Tiffany and Scott Fitzgerald.
Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2024, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
Wisconsin
Rubber bullet carnage as 1,000 animal welfare activists storm beagle breeding lab in Wisconsin | Fortune
About 1,000 animal welfare activists who tried to gain entry 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 kilometers) southwest of the 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.
“I just feel defeated,” activist Julie Vrzeski told the newspaper about three hours into the operation after no dogs had been successfully seized.
Activists later moved from the Ridglan facility to protest outside the jail in downtown Madison.
The group Coalition to Save the Ridglan Dogs had publicized plans to seize the dogs Sunday but launched its operation a day earlier. The X account of the group’s leader, Wayne Hsiung, posted a picture of him being arrested.
The sheriff’s department said a person who “recklessly” drove a pickup through the front gate of the property was arrested, “preventing a potentially deadly outcome.”
Protesters broke into the facility in March and took 30 dogs. Twenty-seven people were arrested on trespassing and other charges.
Ridglan has denied mistreating animals but agreed in October to give up its state breeding license as of July 1 as part of a deal to avoid prosecution on animal mistreatment charges.
On its website it says “no credible evidence of animal abuse, cruelty, mistreatment or neglect at Ridglan Farms has ever been presented or substantiated.”
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.
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