Election Win Sticks the Dagger in Trump & MAGA in Wisconsin

0:00Michael Popok:We got some good news coming out of a Supreme Court. It's just not the United States Supreme Court, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court. You know, the one that Elon Musk tried to screw around with and buy a seat on. Well, they just ruled four to three that the abortion ban on the books in Wisconsin for 176 years since 1849 is no longer good law. that the Wisconsin legislature had put in place a series of statutes that allows for choice, for reproductive rights, for freedom of choice of women, and that allows for abortion to be part of that choice up until the moment of viability or at about 21 weeks.

0:39Michael Popok:So now we have a state Supreme Court stepping forward to protect women. And I'm here for it. So are you. You're on Midas touch and legal AF. Supreme Court of Wisconsin, you may recall, we spent a lot of time talking about it over the last several months as Elon Musk spent$20 million to try to get his chosen candidate and an anti-abortion candidate at that elected, Brad Schimmel. He lost to Susan Crawford. But Susan Crawford is not part of the four to three because she hasn't been seated yet. The four to three, she'll preserve the four to three liberal majority of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. But the person who really can be thanked for breaking that tie and making it four to three to protect women's rights is Justice Janet Protus-Sewitz.

1:26Michael Popok:She's been on the Midas Touch Network. Justice Protus-Sewitz, her actual campaign when she ran, because these are elected officials in Wisconsin, like some states for the Supreme Court, she said she was running on a pro-right to choose platform. She got her chance right now in a case that we refer to as a call, which is the attorney general of the state versus Ermansky. It was a way to bring this to the United States, to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by way of a declaratory judgment action. Let me, it's a relatively short decision, opinion, delivered by and written by Judge Daly. Here's Rebecca Frank Daly.

2:06Michael Popok:This is what she said. In Dobbs versus Jackson Women's Health in 2022, the United States Supreme Court overruled decades of precedent, including Roe versus Wade and held for the first time that the United States Constitution does not protect the right to an abortion. In the wake of that decision, let me break here for a minute, we have these springing statutes where states had on the books that if Roe versus Wade was ever rescinded, because they've been campaigning to get it rescinded for 50 years, if it was ever overturned, that whatever statute was on their books from old timey times would spring back to life and would be the law of that state.

2:47Michael Popok:And so there was this springing statute problem because on the books of Wisconsin, the argument was that in 1849, they criminalized abortion. However, since that time in the subsequent years, in the 60s and 70s and 80s, the Wisconsin legislature didn't criminalize it and set up an entire structure, entire statutory scheme to regulate reproductive rights, including abortion. So the argument that the Supreme Court of Wisconsin adopted is that the Wisconsin legislature superseded the earlier law by rewriting it and revising it. And that's the law that now comes back into effect now that the Supreme Court has taken away the federal constitutional right to choose.

3:33Michael Popok:Let me read to you from the order. we conclude that comprehensive legislation enacted over the last 50 years regulating in detail the who what where when and how of abortion is so thoroughly covers the entire subject matter of abortion that it was meant as a substitute for the 19th century near total ban on abortion that's on page two of her order they then say on page three that the central question before us is whether that statute bans abortion. That subsection or precursor to it has been on the book since 1849 and prohibits intentionally destroying the life of an unborn child, subject only to a narrow exception for a therapeutic abortion that is necessary to save the life of the mother.

4:18Michael Popok:That's from 1849. But then the court ruled, we focus our analysis on plaintiff's argument and conclude that under the unique circumstances presented here, the legislature impliedly repealed that provision I just read you as to abortion by enacting comprehensive legislation about virtually every aspect of abortion, including where, when, and how health care providers may lawfully perform abortions. That comprehensive legislation so thoroughly covers the entire subject matter of abortion that it was clearly meant as a substitute for the 19th century near total ban. This show is sponsored by Liquid IV.

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7:08Michael Popok:We call that in another context ouster, that something, some regulation has so occupied the field, the subject matter, that it has ousted all other attempts at regulation. Once they reach that conclusion, then it was easy for them to say that the statute that's in play is the statutes developed by the Wisconsin legislature that will allow abortions under certain circumstances up through viability. And they then destroy the argument made by the Sheboygan prosecutor who was standing in for the religious right and their arguments. And they said, in conclusion, on page 17 of their order, this case is about giving effect to 50 years worth of laws passed by the legislature about virtually every aspect of abortion.

7:59Michael Popok:The legislature, as the people's representatives, remains free to change the laws. But the only way to give effect to what the legislature has done, actually done for 50 years, is to conclude that it impliedly repealed the 19th century ban. That shows you elections have consequences. That connectivity between elections and judges sometimes is lost in the electorate and among voters. And sometimes I blame us for not being able to better explain it. When you elect a Donald Trump, even for one narrow reason, he is also responsible for reshaping the face of the federal judiciary by putting on hundreds and hundreds of federal judges through the appellate courts, through the United States Supreme Court.

8:42Michael Popok:The United States Supreme Court will continue to be a right wing MAGA majority for at least the next two decades because of Donald Trump, because he's going to likely get the next two picks when Alito and Thomas leave or otherwise are replaced. And even if we get back the presidency in 2028, which is likely. The best we can hope for is that Roberts resigns, retires, or dies, and we get to elevate somebody like Ketanji Brown-Jackson into the chief justice seat and then select a replacement. That's the best we can hope for. I mean, it wouldn't be bad. I would take, if we have to only have one seat, I'll take the chief justice seat and I'll take Ketanji Brown Jackson in it.

9:31Michael Popok:But that's why elections matter. And your state elections matter. And your state judges matter. And a lot of them run for election. Don't just go, I don't know who any of these people are. We have to learn who these people are. I'll bring them on the show. We'll talk more about them. At the Supreme Court, we were able to rebel and resist against Elon Musk and Donald Trump who tried to step into Wisconsin and buy a Supreme Court seat. The Wisconsin voters rejected that. And the good news is now with the addition of Susan Crawford, the four to three majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, so we can expect rulings like this, stays in place until 2028.

10:10Michael Popok:And hopefully more will be swept in on the coattails of whoever the Democratic nominee for president is at that time. Elections matter. Supreme Courts are often in control and they're They're often quasi-political and often elected. So pay attention to who is on your Supreme Court. And if when there's a retention vote or a vote for a seat, we need to oppose the most radical members that are running for those seats. It is important. It is going to be the states and has been the states, both the attorneys general, the governors, the state houses and the Supreme Courts that are going to help rein in Donald Trump through lawsuits, through legislation, and through their Supreme Courts.

10:55Michael Popok:I'll continue to follow it right here on the Midas Touch Network and on Legal AF. Take a moment, slide over to Legal AF, the YouTube channel. Hit the subscribe button. That's the way you can vote for this kind of content. So until my next Legal AF, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF Substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the Substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, Morning AF.

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