Vos gets temporary reprieve in gerrymandering case

MADISON - A panel of federal judges late Friday temporarily blocked a lower court's order that Assembly Speaker Robin Vos sit for a deposition in Wisconsin's gerrymandering case.

In their brief order, the judges wrote that they were suspending the requirement that Vos testify and turn over documents until they further study the case. Vos had been scheduled to testify on May 29.

The lawsuit by Democratic voters challenges the election maps Vos and other Republican lawmakers drew in 2011 that have helped them keep large majorities in the years since then.

Vos of Rochester fought the deposition request, arguing he didn't have to sit for one because lawmakers are generally immune from lawsuits during the legislative session.

The initial panel of federal judges hearing the case determined in a 2-1 ruling this month that Vos had to sit for a deposition because "this is an exceptional case that raises important federal questions about the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s plan for electing members of the Assembly."

Vos asked the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to review that ruling and a three-judge panel there issued Friday's order temporarily blocking the deposition. Those judges did not indicate when they would issue a final ruling.

The timing is important. The U.S. Supreme Court is slated to issue decisions by June in gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina that could have direct bearing on Wisconsin's case.

Wisconsin's lawsuit is scheduled for trial in July, but that could change depending on how the cases from the other states go.

Wisconsin's maps have been the subject of lawsuits since 2011. The current case went before the Supreme Court, but the justices ruled last year that the Democratic voters behind the lawsuit hadn't proved they had legal standing to bring the case.

In response, the voters amended their lawsuit to revive the case.

Friday's decision was issued by Judges Michael Kanne, Ilana Rovner and Diane Sykes.

Kanne was nominated by President Ronald Reagan, Rovner by President George H.W. Bush and Sykes by President George W. Bush.

Sykes, who joined the federal court in 2004, previously sat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.