The Wisconsin Supreme Court is overdue for a vacation. Given how active and earthshaking their past few months have been, the justices are likely eager for it to begin. Before they fired up their barbeques and made plans to hit Lake Winnebago, they had one more thing to take care of.
On July 8, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that five statutes empowering the state's Joint Committee for the Review of Administrative Rules (JCRAR) to have veto power over executive branch rules without a legislative bill in place violated the Wisconsin Constitution. This removes a check added by the Republican-led legislature on Governor Tony Evers to inhibit his ability to enact policies and expenditures without after-the-fact demands from state lawmakers.
The 4-3 decision overturned 1992's Martinez v. DILHR, with the current Wisconsin Supreme Court stating that the original ruling had misapplied the constitution and was unsound in principle. The Chief Justice cited 1983's INS v. Chadha U.S. Supreme Court decision as the basis for ruling that using the JCRAR veto power without supporting bills was unconstitutional and unbalanced the separation of powers.
So, Anything Interesting Happen Over the Past 24 or So Months?
Changes in the Wisconsin Supreme Court began with Janet Protasiewicz winning a seat on the bench in April 2023. Within a month, Republican lawmakers threatened to either impeach her or delay her trial as long as possible, keeping her from being involved in rulings. After a panel of former justices concluded there was no basis for impeachment, the Assembly abandoned its attempt in December 2023.
The battle to replace a retiring justice in April 2025 brought the Wisconsin Supreme Court back into the national spotlight. Despite tens of millions spent by Elon Musk to elect the conservative candidate, Susan Crawford won the election, maintaining a liberal-slanted 4-3 majority.
There's more! The Court ruled that a 1849 abortion law that some county prosecutors were threatening to enforce was rendered moot by implied repeal last week in another 4-3 decision. Due to laws that had been applied during and after the access supplied through Roe v. Wade, the almost 175-year-old law that didn't specifically name abortion was determined to have been effectively replaced.
With scant days left in a session that usually ended in late June, some thought the Wisconsin Supreme Court was done dropping haymaker decisions. As proven by Tuesday's ruling, that wasn't the case.
You Need To Stop Doing That
Before the July 8th decision, the JCRAR had been using its veto power to thoroughly scuttle any attempts by Governor Evers to apply executive rules and policies that didn't meet the approval of the Republican-led Assembly. This was despite the money being allocated to the executive branch by the legislature and the ability of, but failure to, pass bills to support the policy blocks made by the JCRAR.
Some of the executive rules and policies that were obstructed through the JCRAR included an update that ruled so-called "gay conversion therapy," which includes techniques that are considered torture, is unethical. In addition, the ruling allows Governor Evers to advance statutory pay raises for over 35,000 University of Wisconsin System employees to proceed after Speaker Robin Vos refused to allow it unless all diversity, equity, and inclusion policies (DEI) were removed.
The victory will also free Governor Evers to address environmental issues previously blocked by the JCRAR vetoes, including the weakening of Department of Natural Resources monitoring requirements to stop "forever chemicals" being added to Wisconsin's wastewater. As was the case with the recent abortion decision, the justices in the minority offered dissents (although one also offered a partial concurrence).
The legal landscape in Wisconsin has been greatly changed since the last time the state Supreme Court broke for summer. It remains to be seen if judicial fireworks will last into the fall and beyond.
Related Resources
- Ban on Gay 'Conversion' Therapy Constitutional (FindLaw Federal Courts)
- What Is a Bicameral Legislature and How Does It Work in the U.S.? (FindLaw's U.S. Constitution)
- How Are Judges Selected? (FindLaw's Legal System)
