In a recent development, the open records lawsuit filed against former Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Patience Roggensack has been dismissed. The lawsuit was filed by the liberal watchdog group American Oversight, seeking records related to Roggensack's investigation into the possible impeachment of a sitting justice.

Roggensack had previously turned over all the records she possessed concerning the impeachment inquiry. However, the records produced did not provide any insight into the advice she had given to Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos regarding the matter. Vos had previously mentioned a phone conversation with Roggensack but refrained from disclosing her advice. In a similar vein, Roggensack remained tight-lipped about the guidance she had provided to Vos.

It is important to note that two other former justices recommended against impeachment when Vos sought their input. Both David Prosser and Jon Wilcox advised against pursuing impeachment.

The lawsuit also accused the three former justices of violating the state's open meetings law. However, Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington dismissed the open meetings allegations in November, stating that American Oversight prematurely filed the claim without allowing the district attorney sufficient time to decide on initiating his own lawsuit. The Dane County District Attorney, Ismael Ozanne, subsequently chose not to press charges.

Previously, Remington had dismissed the open records allegations against Prosser and Wilcox after they produced their records. He then granted Roggensack 30 days to produce any additional relevant records, to which she responded on December 8 that she possessed no further responsive documents beyond those previously made public. During a court hearing, Roggensack's attorney, Bob Shumaker, confirmed the same.

Consequently, the case against Roggensack was dropped by American Oversight, and the judge consequently dismissed the lawsuit. However, the open records claim against Vos remains unresolved. Vos's attorney, Matthew Fernholz, stated that Vos had already provided all the records he possessed. In November, Vos had released approximately 20,000 pages of documents. A status hearing for the open records claim against Vos has been scheduled for January 25.

Initially, Vos had contemplated impeachment proceedings if Justice Janet Protasiewicz did not recuse herself from a redistricting case. However, Protasiewicz opted not to recuse, prompting Vos to change his stance based on the advice of the former justices who opposed impeachment. However, Vos has now suggested that he may contemplate impeachment if Protasiewicz does not rule in favor of upholding the current Republican-drawn maps.

The Wisconsin Constitution strictly reserves impeachment for "corrupt conduct in office, or for crimes and misdemeanors." Republicans argue that Protasiewicz has pre-judged the case based on her campaign remarks, in which she referred to the current maps as "unfair" and "rigged." On the other hand, Protasiewicz maintains that while expressing her opinion about the maps, she never made any guarantees or promises about how she would rule on the case.

The court heard the redistricting case in November, with the potential for new maps to be in place before the 2024 election. A ruling from the court is expected imminently, which will ultimately determine the fate of Wisconsin's electoral boundaries.