OPINION:
The 47th president of the United States will be sworn in on Jan. 20, 2025. The first major test to determine who might be the 48th president will take place on April 1, 2025, with an election for a vacant position on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
In my tenure as governor, I signed a law that required photo identification to vote in Wisconsin. The legislation paralleled laws in other states upheld by federal and state courts.
If a fourth liberal activist is elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, that simple law could be thrown away along with other requirements for early ballot casting and voter registration. We have seen the negative consequences in other states when courts attempt to impose their own will on the electoral process without regard for what was passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor.
Requirements to show a driver’s license or other government-issued identification make it easy to vote but hard to cheat. If they throw out our law, it will be easier to cheat. That is wrong. Since Wisconsin is the closest battleground state in the country, it will affect the 2028 presidential election in my state and the Electoral College vote count. The left has plenty of reasons to get the court to throw out the law, even if most citizens think it makes sense.
Is this overhyping the situation? No. Our Act 10, which took power from big government special interests and returned it to taxpayers, has stood up to legal challenges in federal court and before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. It has been the law of the land for more than a dozen years.
Nothing in the law has changed since 2011. What did change, however, is the political makeup of Wisconsin’s highest court. Currently, there are four liberal justices and three conservative justices. The big government union bosses filed a lawsuit shortly after the newest liberal activist joined the bench.
One of the four is retiring, and her seat will be open on the April 1 ballot. The two candidates are about as far apart as you can imagine.
The liberal activist is Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford. She previously represented Planned Parenthood and was legal counsel for liberal Gov. Jim Doyle. She is a soft-on-crime liberal who would likely push her own agenda with the three other recent additions to the Supreme Court, who are all brazen in their political agenda.
The conservative candidate is Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel. He is a career prosecutor who served as a district attorney before being elected state attorney general. He believes in upholding the Constitution and the rule of law.
The election of Judge Schimel to state Supreme Court justice would lead to decisions by the court that gave discretion to the Legislature to make and enact laws. The election of Judge Crawford would likely void much of the work done by state lawmakers and the governor.
An activist liberal majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court could lead to the repeal of voter ID and other wild election law requirements. It would likely lead to the removal of our Act 10 reforms that saved hardworking taxpayers billions of dollars. Restoring the power of big government union bosses would drive funds out of the classroom and away from basic government services. It is why even left-leaning officials are worrying about the reforms being overturned by the court.
The repeal of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program that has been around since 1990 could be next on the chopping block if liberals on the court have their way. They could overturn tax cuts, government efficiencies, protections for the unborn and the right to protect ourselves and our families.
An activist court could prohibit limits on biological males competing with female athletes or stopping men from showering in women’s locker rooms. It could allow children to get sex-change operations without the consent of parents. They could allow the killing of an unborn child all the way up to birth.
On crime, a liberal activist court could overturn Wisconsin’s Truth-in-Sentencing law, which requires criminals to serve their full term behind bars. They could release prisoners early, lower bail and reduce penalties for violent crimes.
An activist liberal court could even throw out the current congressional boundaries and force maps that eliminate several districts currently held by Republican members. With tight margins in the House, this could alter the majority.
These reasons, and more, are why people nationwide should be watching the spring election for the state Supreme Court. It is bad enough that four liberal activists could negatively alter Wisconsin law, but their overreach could affect the rest of the nation too.
• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.
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