Wisconsin Supreme Court puts Democratic governor in his place with unanimous ruling



The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled unanimously Wednesday that Democratic Gov. Tony Evers "breached his constitutional boundaries" when he partially vetoed and modified substantive portions of a bill in a literacy package last year.

Evers clearly did not appreciate being put in his place.

In the wake of the ruling, Evers claimed that the majority-liberal court's decision was "unconscionable."

Republicans, meanwhile, celebrated the ruling, in one instance throwing leftists' NoKings hashtag back at them.

State Sen. Julian Bradley (R) noted that the governor's "ridiculous and unlawful veto that held up money to teach kids to read has been UNANIMOUSLY ruled unconstitutional," adding that "even the far left-wing justices couldn't find a way to justify @GovEvers' actions. #NoKings."

Shot

Wisconsin's Republican-led legislature sued Evers in April 2024 over his partial veto of a bill intended to help fund literacy programs in the Badger State.

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 Daniel Steinle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Senate Bill 971 empowered the GOP-controlled state Joint Committee on Finance to direct $50 million set aside in the biennial budget to specific Department of Public Instruction programs created after the budget bill passed, including the literacy coaching program, the DPI's Office of Literacy, and grants for early literacy curriculum.

While Evers approved SB 971, he improperly exercised partial-veto power to strike certain sections of the legislation in part and others in full that he claimed overly complicated "the allocation of funding related to literacy programs in Wisconsin by creating multiple appropriations for what could be accomplished with one."

'Wisconsin families are the real winners here.'

The Democratic governor suggested further that his actions would ensure greater flexibility in meeting the "investment needs for coaches, grants, and professional development alike."

While Evers may partially veto an appropriation bill under Article V, Section 10(1)(b) of the Wisconsin Constitution, this was not an appropriations bill.

The Republican legislators' complaint noted that if the governor mistakenly believed SB 971 was an appropriations bill, "he should have requested the legislature recall the bill in order to pass both houses of the legislature with the proper vote." After all, any bill that appropriates funds must pass both chambers with a roll-call vote — something that had not taken place in this case.

The complaint noted further that the unconstitutional partial veto of SB 971 left the legislature in a dilemma: While the JCF wanted to fund the appropriate literacy programs, "any money directed under the partially vetoed version of [SB 971] might (but should not) be treated by DPI as money that can be used by the Office of Literacy for any nondescript 'literacy program' of DPI's invention."

Chaser

The Wisconsin Supreme Court sided with the Republican legislature against Evers Wednesday and torpedoed his narrative concerning the JCF, which he suggested had been wrong to withhold funds.

The court noted that the Wisconsin Constitution "does not authorize the governor to partially veto a non-appropriation bill, which the governor may veto only in its entirety."

"We hold the governor breached his constitutional boundaries because the bill he partially vetoed was not an appropriation bill," said the ruling. "We also hold JCF did not improperly withhold funds the legislature appropriated to JCF."

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 Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

As a result of the court's decision, SB 971 as passed by the state legislature — without Evers' changes — is the law.

The Associated Press suggested that the Wisconsin Supreme Court's ruling might also result in the legislature pushing budget and other spending bills in a similar manner to get around Evers' future partial vetoes, thereby securing greater control over spending.

State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said in a joint statement that the ruling "is a rebuke of the Governor’s attempt to break apart a bipartisan literacy-funding bill and JCF's constitutional authority to give supplemental funding to agencies."

"While the governor wanted to play politics with money earmarked for kids' reading programs, it is encouraging to see the court put an end to this game. Wisconsin families are the real winners here," they added.

Evers did his best to spin his efforts and pin the holdup of funds on Republicans, writing, "I will never apologize for fighting for our kids and our schools. Not today, not ever."

"Twelve lawmakers should not be able to obstruct resources that were already approved by the full legislature and the governor to help get our kids up to speed and ensure they have the skills they need to be successful," continued Evers. "It is unconscionable that the Wisconsin Supreme Court is allowing the legislature's indefinite obstruction to go unchecked."

The Democratic governor urged the JCF to immediately release the $50 million before the money goes back into the state's general fund next week.

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Despite Democrat hysteria, Wisconsin judge accused of thwarting ICE faces 6 years in prison after grand jury indictment



Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' Democratic administration issued guidance on April 18 directing state employees not to immediately cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other federal agents. That same day, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly helped a previously deported illegal alien facing three misdemeanor counts of battery get away from ICE.

In what proved to be a shock to some Americans now accustomed to seeing judicial activism go unchecked, the FBI arrested Dugan on April 25. The arrest sent Democratic lawmakers, former judges, and liberal activists into a frenzy.

The indictment alleges that Dugan committed multiple 'affirmative acts' to assist Eduardo Flores-Ruiz evade arrest.

Following weeks of Democratic accusations of judicial intimidation and claims about an improper arrest, a federal grand jury determined Tuesday that there was, after all, sufficient evidence to indict Dugan on charges of concealing a person from arrest and obstruction of the law.

The indictment alleges that Dugan committed multiple "affirmative acts" to assist Eduardo Flores-Ruiz evade arrest following his pre-trial April 18 appearance in her courtroom, including:

  • confronting members of an ICE task force and "falsely telling them they needed a judicial warrant to effectuate the arrest of E.F.R.";
  • directing all members of the task force to leave the public hallway outside her courtroom and to go to the chief judge's office;
  • addressing the illegal alien's criminal case off the record while ICE agents were waiting in the chief judge's office;
  • "directing E.F.R. and his counsel to exit Courtroom 615 through a non-public jury door"; and
  • advising Flores-Ruiz's lawyer that the illegal alien could appear by Zoom for his next court date.

Despite Dugan's alleged efforts, law enforcement was ultimately able to capture Flores-Ruiz, an illegal alien from Mexico who was previously deported in 2013, after a brief foot chase. Flores-Ruiz's battery charges reportedly include modifiers for domestic violence and reflect that he allegedly punched one individual 30 times, then brutalized the woman who attempted to intervene.

Attorney General Pam Bondi noted in an interview last month that both of Flores-Ruiz's alleged victims had to be hospitalized.

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 Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

Dugan indicated through a lawyer that she will fight the charges, reported the New York Times.

"Judge Hannah C. Dugan has committed herself to the rule of law and the principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge," said Dugan's lawyers. "Judge Dugan asserts her innocence and looks forward to being vindicated in court."

If convicted, Dugan could reportedly land up to six years in prison.

The judge turned defendant is expected to enter a plea at her Thursday hearing.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman will preside over Dugan's case. That bodes well for the meddlesome judge.

After all, Adelman, a Clinton appointee who long served in the Wisconsin state Senate as a Democrat, has a history of attacking President Donald Trump, claiming, for instance, that the president makes no effort "to enact policies beneficial to the general public" and behaves like an "autocrat." The Heritage Foundation noted that Lynn has also compared Republicans to "the 'fireaters,' [sic] those fervent defenders of slavery who pushed the South into the Civil War."

The Department of Homeland Security told Blaze News, "Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected ICE agents away from this criminal illegal alien to obstruct the arrest and try to help him evade arrest. Thankfully, our FBI partners chased down this illegal alien, arrested him and removed him from American communities."

Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security's assistant secretary for public affairs, stated, "Since President Trump was inaugurated, activist judges have tried to obstruct President Trump and the American people’s mandate to make America safe and secure our homeland — but this judge’s actions to shield an accused violent criminal illegal alien from justice is shocking and shameful."

"We are thankful for our partners at the FBI for helping remove this accused criminal from America’s streets," continued McLaughlin. "If you are here illegally and break the law, we will hunt you down, arrest you and lock you up. That's a promise."

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News' Jesse Watters Tuesday, "I'm grateful that the judicial system recognized that Judge Duggan let down the court, the country, and the authority that her position held and that she will be held accountable. That [the indictment] was a great decision to recognize that nobody can facilitate breaking the law. We should not be able to allow that in this country. We need to make sure that even judges are held accountable for their actions."

Shortly after Dugan's arrest last month, FBI Director Kash Patel posted to social media: "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores Ruiz, allowing the subject — an illegal alien — to evade arrest."

In response to a request for comment about Dugan's grand jury indictment, the FBI told Blaze News: "We don’t have anything to add to Director Patel’s public statements posted on social media."

The White House did not respond by deadline.

Dugan's indictment comes two weeks after the Supreme Court of Wisconsin relieved her of her official duties "in order to uphold the public's confidence in the courts of this state." As a result, Dugan — who appears to have flouted the Wisconsin Code of Judicial Conduct, particularly its requirement that "a judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of the judge's activities" — is now prohibited from exercising the powers of a circuit court judge in the state until further order from the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

In the wake of her arrest, Democratic lawmakers and their allies in the media ran with the narrative that the FBI's enforcement of the law amounted to the Trump administration "making an example of the Milwaukee judge to intimidate critics and opponents."

For instance, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) stated, "We have a system of checks and balances and separations of power for damn good reasons. The President's administration arresting a sitting judge is a gravely serious and drastic move, and it threatens to breach those very separations of power."

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.) told Axios, "It is remarkable that the Administration would dare to start arresting state court judges."

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Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) said, "They arrested a judge?! They can no longer claim to be a party of law and order."

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) stated on the day of the arrest, "We have seen in recent months the president and the Trump Administration repeatedly use dangerous rhetoric to attack and attempt to undermine our judiciary at every level."

While some Democratic lawmakers issued their condemnations, others celebrated Dugan's alleged obstruction and concealment of a person from arrest.

Wisconsin state Rep. Ryan Clancy (D) stated, "I commend Judge Hannah Dugan's defense of due process by preventing ICE from shamefully using her courtroom as an ad hoc holding area for deportations."

Hundreds of former state and federal judges also leaned into the narrative, stating in a recent letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi — who had noted on X, "No one is above the law" — that "the circumstances of Judge Dugan's arrest make it clear that it was nothing but an effort to threaten and intimidate the state and federal judiciaries into submitting to the Administration, instead of interpreting the Constitution and laws of the United States."

This is a developing story.

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Dem governor denies directing state employees to break federal law to protect illegal aliens



Democrat Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers' administration issued guidance on April 18 directing state employees not to immediately cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other federal agents.

The day the guidance went out, Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly helped a previously deported illegal alien facing three misdemeanor counts of battery get away from immigration officials following his pretrial April 18 appearance in her courtroom. Dugan has been charged with two federal felony counts: obstructing or impeding a proceeding before a department or agency of the U.S. and concealing an individual to prevent his discovery and arrest.

In the wake of Dugan's arrest by the FBI, Evers apparently felt that critics' suggestion that his administration instructed state employees to violate federal law was "crap."

"That's what they would say no matter what," Evers told WISN-TV. "We're not encouraging them to break the law. In fact, one of the things that ICE is arresting people for, we're seeing all that, frankly, is not law-breaking. And then what do you do? So I think having caution right up front, I think, is important."

The guidance issued by Evers' Department of Administration provided state workers with instructions on what to do if ICE ever showed up to their office.

'It is absolutely insane for Governor Evers to order state employees to ignore federal law enforcement.'

After asking for the agent's name, badge, reason for showing up, and supporting documentation, the guidance instructed state employees to call their office of legal counsel and speak directly with an attorney. If an attorney is unreachable, then state employees were told to ask the federal agent to come back at another time.

The guidance contains a list of prohibitions:

  • "Do not answer questions, including when an agent asks about someone you know or presents a warrant with an individual name."
  • "Do not give the agent access to any paper files or computer systems without speaking to your attorney, including when the agent presents a warrant."
  • "Do not give your consent for the agent to enter into a non-public area."

Anne Hanson, deputy secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration, noted in a corresponding letter to state employees, "While we hope it won't be necessary to put this guidance into practice, please do your part to be prepared."

Republican lawmakers and other critics noted at the time the guidance was issued that it would lead to trouble.

Rep. Tony Wied (R-Wisc.) said, "It is absolutely insane for Governor Evers to order state employees to ignore federal law enforcement. Wisconsinites want a secure border and they deserve a Governor that prioritizes their safety and wellbeing over illegal aliens."

'It's clear that Tony Evers is a Wisconsin Last governor.'

"Tony Evers is now directing state employees to not cooperate with federal law enforcement," wrote Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Wisc.). "Instead of obstruction, our governor should respect the law and work with federal law enforcement to secure our border and protect our communities."

Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wisc.) alerted Attorney General Pam Bondi to the guidance, writing, "Tony Evers is at it again. Now, his administration is ordering state employees to block ICE from doing their job. Wisconsin deserves better."

Wisconsin state Rep. Amanda Nedweski (R) wrote, "Between this and his promise to veto GOP legislation that would get violent illegal immigrants off our streets, it's clear that Tony Evers is a Wisconsin Last governor."

"The very fact that Tony Evers is instructing his employees to either break federal law or not cooperate with law enforcement is a new low for Tony Evers," Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) said during a news conference last week, reported Wisconsin Public Radio. "Now he's telling every single state employee to ignore a warrant. It's really embarrassing."

Wisconsin Fraternal Order of Police President Ryan Windorff stated, "Wow, Governor Evers, stellar plan! Instructing state employees to blow off federal agents, even with a warrant in hand, is next-level brilliance. Why bother with federal law when you can nudge your workers toward violating 18 U.S.C. § 111?"

"Nothing says 'great leadership' like hanging your employees out to dry for your political flex. Slow clap for Wisconsin," added Windorff.

'They run the show.'

Evers suggested to WISN that hamstringing federal efforts to find and deport illegal aliens is necessary to prevent Wisconsin from becoming a "shadow of the state we are right now," noting that Wisconsin farmers presently "have all sorts of undocumented people."

"I don't think we are going to stop ICE from doing whatever they're going to do, absolutely not. But we want to make it fair for the people that, our employees, I think it's important they have access to an attorney just for that exchange between ICE and one of our employees," continued Evers.

 Fresh off embarrassing himself both trying to handle a football and trying to replace the word "mother" with "inseminated person," Evers added, "We're not taking any rights away from ICE. They run the show."

While keen on protecting foreign nationals who illegally stole into the homeland, Evers claimed in an April 25 statement bemoaning Dugan's arrest that he has a "deep respect for the rule of law," as well as for the "efforts of law enforcement to hold people accountable if they commit a crime."

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'Attack on the very essence of motherhood'

'Inseminated person': Wisconsin Gov. Evers tries to erase mothers with gender-neutral language overhaul



Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) backed a budget recommendation that would have replaced the word "mother" with "inseminated person."

On Tuesday, the state Senate's Joint Committee on Finance introduced a bill that contained Evers' budget recommendations for the 2025 through 2027 fiscal period.

'This is beyond parody.'

It directed a gender-neutral overhaul of several terms, including changing "wife" and "husband" to "spouse," "father" to "parent," and "mother" to "inseminated person" or "parent who gave birth to the child."

The changes were introduced on page 1,766 of a more than 1,900-page bill.

Elon Musk called Evers' proposed law "messed up."

Former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines stated that the language changes were "ridiculously offensive" to women.

WISN-TV radio host Dan O'Donnell responded, "This is beyond parody."

The Republican Governors Association's executive director, Sara Craig, issued a statement replying to Evers' proposal.

"Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers' latest left-wing push isn't just out of touch, it's offensive to mothers. Being a mother is the greatest privilege I will have in my lifetime, and every mother I know feels the same. If Tony Evers can reduce motherhood to an 'inseminated person,' then our society is lost," Craig stated.

Scarlett Johnson, a Wisconsin Moms for Liberty Activist, accused the governor of attempting to "erase mothers."

Fox News Digital reported that Evers did not mention the language changes when introducing the bill. Instead, he touted other aspects of the budget, including the elimination of tax on tips and a freeze on property tax increases.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," on his first day in office "to recognize two sexes, male and female." It noted that the two sexes are "not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality."

Evers' office did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

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