"Prosser, J., did not participate."

[Dec. 2]

UPDATE 1: Justice Prosser is ill.
UPDATE 2: The petition is withdrawn.

Unstated whether 2 follows directly from 1, but it was among the "issues raised" in the Supreme Court of Wisconsin's November 30 order. You'd expect the withdrawal to come about on account of the substantive issues raised, but this is primarily about political power for these folks.

And they most likely don't want to roll the dice on a 3-3 split. Which may give some indication as to their confidence in their legal argument. Keep that in mind if and when they get around to re-filing their petition. They still have three in the bag but they don't want to try and persuade Justice Crooks (who may well be the most reasonable one of the bunch).

UPDATE 3: '[Law] specifically precludes this procedural manipulation.'

Ya gotta love this stuff. I mean, it's Republicans making a complete mockery of judicial process, but you have to keep your sense of humor.

UPDATE 4: This from the plaintiffs in the federal redistricting action.

[/Dec. 2]
__________________________________

Wonder how come.*

I get the heebie jeebies when this court starts asking about jurisdiction.

And why even bother asking. They just make it up any/way.

* By the way this is the lawsuit where a group of Republican Teactivists are suing the State Government Accountability Board, on a theory that the GAB actually sat down and read the law drafted by those same lawyers who are representing the Republican Teactivists in the present case, passed by both Republican-controlled legislative houses and signed by Republican Governor Scott Walker. In other words, reading the law and repeating it back to legislative clerks is now a cause of action in the State of Wisconsin. Sounds facetious, but I'm afraid that's accurate.

It's as though the GAB was set up so the suit could be filed because what the WISGOPers are attacking is in fact their own recently enacted law.

In a word, scapegoating.

Because WISGOP v. WISGOP sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Yet that's exactly what the Republicans, through their silk stocking attorneys, are up to with this: suing themselves. And they've effectively forced the State Government Accountability Board into the position of "adversary."

I wonder if they can sue themselves for ineffective assistance of counsel, because they shelled out hundreds of thousands in fees for, inter alia, this one gigantic boner they're trying to have rectified by judicial fiat.

The GAB's interpretation is not even a close call. It's plain meaning.

Face it, this gang is terrified at losing the Senate. One or two of these Senate recalls are more important than knocking off the Desperado.

Moreover if the Republican Teactivists' theory is correct, then the recall elections that were held last summer were held in "unconstitutionally malapportioned" districts as well. Although the petitioners have not identified at what point in time the current electoral districts became "unconstitutionally malapportioned," it clearly would have been before last summer, because unconstitutional malapportionment was precisely the evil that legislative Republicans undertook to remedy last winter.

So if Republicans are crowing about Democratic "failure" in contesting those districts — and they are — then what harms are a couple more contests in "unconstitutionally malapportioned" districts going to cause?

That's for the next round of questions, I guess.

Memorandum in Support of Petition (Nov. 21)
Supreme Court Order (Nov. 30)