Victory For the Rule of Law

Defending the Republic is proud to announce that today (08-02-2023), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied a baseless appeal by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers which sought the issuance of sanctions relating to a lawsuit filed to challenge the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin.

The request for sanctions from Governor Evers was filed after a Wisconsin federal district court had dismissed a lawsuit – based on standing, not on the merits – from William Feehan, which sought to decertify Wisconsin's 2020 election results and enjoin Governor Evers from certifying Wisconsin's electoral votes for Joe Biden. The federal district court correctly rejected the motion, observing that the motion was untimely and it did not have jurisdiction to consider sanctions.

The Seventh Circuit agreed. Importantly, it rejected arguments from Governor Evers that the Court of Appeals should overrule its precedent that a district court cannot make a ruling for sanctions under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 where it lacks jurisdiction. As the Seventh Circuit noted, Governor Evers could have "easily" complied with the rules by filing his sanctions motion while the case was still pending. His late filing was not sufficient to change long-standing precedent, especially in "high-speed, high-pressure lawsuits" that challenge the results of an election.

In addition, the Seventh Circuit reiterated the district court's decision not to impose sanctions under its inherent authority or under Section 1927.. Specifically, the Circuit writes that the "district court made clear that it would not have treated this as the sort of rare case where post-judgment sanctions imposed under inherent authority would have been needed to protect the court's institutional integrity."

In no uncertain terms, this is a victory for the rule of law and for litigants seeking to uphold their Constitutional rights by suing public officials who fail in their duty to administer and oversee fair and legal elections. Sidney Powell proudly represented Mr. Feehan at the trial-court level and in the appeal.