Wisconsin Supreme Court approves GOP-drawn state legislative maps

The Wisconsin Supreme Court voted 4-3 on Friday to approve new state legislative maps drawn by the state's Republican-controlled legislature, The New York Times reported.

Last month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court voted to approve alternative maps drawn by Gov. Tony Evers (D), but the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the decision, arguing the state court had not considered whether Evers' maps violated the Voting Rights Act.

In Friday's ruling, Justice Brian Hagedorn was the swing vote, joining the court's conservatives after voting with the liberals in March, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

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Per the Times, the new maps, "essentially lock in overwhelming Republican majorities in the Assembly and the Senate for the next decade." An analysis by the Journal Sentinel found that the GOP maps "tilt heavily in Republicans' favor, with 63 of the 99 Assembly seats and 23 of the 33 Senate seats leaning" red.

Writing for The Week in January, Ryan Cooper argued that, since Wisconsin Republicans implemented "one of the most extreme gerrymanders in American history" after taking control of both houses of the legislature in 2011, Wisconsin has effectively existed "under one-party rule."

"For the last decade, the people of Wisconsin have had effectively no say in their government, and now they'll have no say for the next decade. Vote for whomever you want, you'll get GOP rule every time," Cooper wrote.

Evers gave a similar assessment of the situation, calling the court's decision "an unconscionable miscarriage of justice for which the people of this state will see no reprieve for another decade."