State Democrats and a Latino advocacy group filed court briefs yesterday arguing for more clarification in the redistricting decision handed down last week in Milwaukee.  

Three federal judges unanimously ruled Thursday election maps drawn last year by Republican lawmakers for two districts on Milwaukee’s south side violated Latinos’ voting rights and must be redrawn. However, the court approved all other legislative and congressional districts drawn by legislators last year, according to a court order. 

After the decision, the Department of Justice filed a motion saying there are two interpretations of the court’s ruling, which requires more clarification. The court can put the questioned districts on hold and proceed with the rest of the map or prevent all districts in the state from being finalized. 

But Voces de la Frontera, a Latino watchdog group, said more districts in Wisconsin will need to be changed as a result of redrawing Districts 8 and 9. 

“When you redraw those boundaries, there may be a residual effect,” Voces De La Frontera Attorney Peter Earl said. “The court assumed you could redraw the eighth district to include a majority, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the rest of the district will still fit into the space.”

Earl also said the current maps could create an unfair obstacle in the re-election of Latino Representative JoCasta Zamarripa of District 8, a district that used to have a Latino majority. 

However, according to Earl, the courts and state Legislature appear to be in a stalemate, and Senate Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald and other Republican lawmakers have refused to call the Legislature into session to make changes to the redistricting lines. 

As a result, Earl said Voces de la Frontera filed a motion asking the court to resume jurisdiction because of the Legislature’s “defiance”.

Common Cause Executive Director Jay Heck said the current maps dilute the strength of Latino minorities in the voting process but admitted that all the state districts are unlikely to change because of complications involving both the 8th and 9th Districts. 

“It’s not up to the courts to decide what the districts have to look like, just what district lines are unconstitutional. That doesn’t mean that the map of all the districts in Wisconsin should be changed, but Democrats are arguing the other way,” Heck said. 

DOJ spokesperson Steven Means agreed with Heck, saying all of Wisconsin’s districts will most likely remain the same. 

“Generally, if the court finds part of the law is invalid, it will not disturb parts of the law that are valid,” Means said. 

He also said the probable outcome in the case would be for the court to hold a hearing to redraw the district boundaries, but if no changes are made, plaintiffs may appeal to the United States Supreme Court. 

The DOJ requested a conference call between the court and lawmakers to occur, but the Legislature has yet to respond, Means said.