Union Law in Wisconsin Blocked by Judge

[Stealth Hunter]

Madison — Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order Friday, barring the publication of Gov. Scott Walker's law that would sharply curtail collective bargaining for public employees.

Sumi's order will prevent Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law - and allowing it to take effect - until she can rule on the merits of the case. Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, a Democrat, is seeking to block the law because he says a legislative committee violated the state's open meetings law in passing the measure, which Walker signed on Friday.

Sumi, who was appointed to the bench by former GOP Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, said Ozanne was likely to succeed on the merits.

"It seems to me the public policy behind effective enforcement of the open meeting law is so strong that it does outweigh the interest, at least at this time, which may exist in favor of sustaining the validity of the (law)," she said.

The judge's finding - at least for now - is a setback to Walker, a Republican, and a victory for opponents, who have spent weeks in the Capitol to protest the bill. Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said the governor's side will ultimately prevail in court.

Assistant Attorney General Steven Means, who was part of the state's legal team, said after the ruling that "we disagree with it."

"And the reason they have appellate courts is because circuit court judges make errors and they have in this case."

Asked if the state would appeal, Means said: "We'll have to think about that."

He said that, if the Legislature tries to come back to re-enact the bill, they would have the right to do that.

Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) said he was pleased with the judge's ruling.

"I am very pleased with her action," Barca said. "We felt from the beginning this was a violation of the open meetings law. And now we go on from here."

Amanda Todd, a spokeswoman for the state courts system, had no immediate comment on when any possible appeal might be taken up by a higher court.

Republicans deny they violated the meetings law and say they passed the law properly.

The state constitution protects legislators from lawsuits during the legislative session. Lawmakers are expected to vote on bills through May 2012, but the session technically runs through Jan. 7, 2013 - the same day the next session begins.

Nonetheless, Sumi said Friday that the courts had the authority to hold up the law, based on past rulings.

The bill to curtail collective bargaining for public employee unions has drawn protesters to the Capitol for more than a month, with crowds swelling to tens of thousands of people on some days. Opponents now see the court cases as their only shot at stopping the law, though they are also pursuing recalls to win back Democratic control of the state Senate.

Republicans created a conference committee late March 9, and the committee met shortly thereafter to make changes to Walker's bill, setting up passage by the state Senate later that night. Passage by the committee was key to getting the bill to Walker's desk two days later.

The open meetings law requires 24 hours' public notice of meetings, or two hours in emergencies. Ozanne's suit argues the emergency standard did not apply and that even if it did, the meeting didn't follow the law because the committee met with less than two hours' notice.

Ozanne argues the meeting also violated the law because people had difficulty getting into the Capitol amid tight security and because it was held in a small room that could not accommodate the large crowd trying to get in.

Ozanne's complaint was against four Republican legislative leaders who were on the committee - Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau, Senate President Mike Ellis of Neenah, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald of Horicon and Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder of Abbotsford.

Named in both suits is Secretary of State Doug La Follette, a Democrat charged with publishing the new law. La Follette has said unless ordered otherwise, he will publish it March 25 and the law will take effect the next day.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/118242814.html

I lol'd. Next step should be an SSC appeal which will probably agree.