{"id":4032,"date":"2011-06-14T19:47:40","date_gmt":"2011-06-14T23:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=4032"},"modified":"2014-01-15T23:03:47","modified_gmt":"2014-01-16T04:03:47","slug":"breaking-wisconsin-supreme-court-upholds-collective-bargaining-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/14\/breaking-wisconsin-supreme-court-upholds-collective-bargaining-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking: Wisconsin Supreme Court Upholds Collective-Bargaining Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the controversial collective bargaining reforms passed by the State Legislature in March can go into effect. The 4-3 ruling found that circuit-court judge Maryann Sumi, exceeded her authority in overturning the law<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The court found a committee of lawmakers was not subject to the state\u2019s open meetings law, and so did not violate that law when they hastily approved the measure and made it possible for the Senate to take it up. In doing so, the Supreme Court overruled a Dane County judge who had struck down the legislation, ending one challenge to the law even as new challenges are likely to emerge.<\/p>\n

The majority opinion was by Justices Michael Gableman, David Prosser, Patience Roggensack and Annette Ziegler. The other three justices \u2013 Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson and Justices Ann Walsh Bradley and N. Patrick Crooks \u2013 concurred in part and dissented in part\u2026<\/p>\n

Legislative leaders had said they would have inserted the limits on collective bargaining into the state budget late Tuesday if the court hadn\u2019t acted by then. But the high court ruled just before that budget debate was to begin\u2026<\/p>\n

In its decision, the state\u2019s high court concluded that \u201cchoices about what laws represent wise public policy for the state of Wisconsin are not within the constitutional purview of the courts.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Frankly, the court’s decision shouldn’t come as surprise to anyone, and despite what some will argue the court’s decision has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with separation of powers, a fact noted by the court in it’s decision<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00b66 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that all orders and judgments of the Dane County Circuit Court in Case No. 2011CV1244 are vacated and declared to be void ab initio<\/strong>. State ex rel. Nader v. Circuit Court for Dane Cnty., No. 2004AP2559-W, unpublished order (Wis. S. Ct. Sept. 30, 2004) (wherein this court vacated the prior orders of the circuit court in the same case).<\/p>\n

\u00b67 This court has granted the petition for an original action because one of the courts that we are charged with supervising has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature….<\/p>\n

\u00b69 Although all orders that preceded the circuit court\u2019s judgment in Case No. 2011CV1244 may be characterized as moot in some respects, the court addresses whether a court can enjoin publication of a bill. The court does so because whether a court can enjoin a bill is a matter of great public importance and also because it appears necessary to confirm that Goodland remains the law that all courts must follow. State v. Cramer, 98 Wis. 2d 416, 420, 296 N.W.2d 921 (1980) (noting that we consider questions that have become moot \u201cwhere the question is one of great public importance . . . or of public interest,\u201d or \u201cwhere the problem is likely to recur and is of sufficient importance to warrant a holding which will guide trial courts in similar circumstances\u201d). Accordingly, because the circuit court did not follow the court\u2019s directive in Goodland, it exceeded its jurisdiction, invaded the legislature\u2019s constitutional powers under Article IV, Section 1 and Section 17 of the Wisconsin Constitution, and erred in enjoining the publication and further implementation of the Act.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00b610 Article IV, Section 17 of the Wisconsin Constitution vests the legislature with the constitutional power to \u201cprovide by law\u201d for publication. The legislature has set the requirements for publication. However, the Secretary of State has not yet fulfilled his statutory duty to publish a notice of publication of the Act in the official state newspaper, pursuant to Wis. Stat. \u00a7 14.38(10)(c). Due to the vacation of the circuit court\u2019s orders, there remain no impediments to the Secretary of State fulfilling his obligations under \u00a7 14.38(10)(c).<\/p>\n

\u00b611 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that we have concluded that in enacting the Act, the legislature did not employ a process that violated Article IV, Section 10 of the Wisconsin Constitution, which provides in relevant part: \u201cThe doors of each house shall be kept open except when the public welfare shall require secrecy.\u201d The doors of the senate and assembly were kept open to the press and members of the public during the enactment of the Act. The doors of the senate parlor, where the joint committee on conference met, were open to the press and members of the public. WisconsinEye broadcast the proceedings live. Access was not denied.[1] There is no constitutional requirement that the legislature provide access to as many members of the public as wish to attend meetings of the legislature or meetings of legislative committees.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~ ~ ~ ~<\/h5>\n

\u00b613\u00a0 It also is argued that the Act is invalid because the legislature did not follow certain notice provisions of the Open Meetings Law for the March 9, 2011 meeting of the joint committee on conference.\u00a0 It is argued that Wis. Stat. \u00a7\u00a019.84(3) required 24 hours notice of that meeting and such notice was not given.\u00a0 It is undisputed that the legislature posted notices of the March 9, 2011 meeting of the joint committee on conference on three bulletin boards, approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes before the start of the meeting.\u00a0 In the posting of notice that was done, the legislature relied on its interpretation of its own rules of proceeding.\u00a0 The court declines to review the validity of the procedure used to give notice of the joint committee on conference….<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Bottom line: this a sweeping victory for Governor Scott Walker and the Republicans in the state legislature, and stinging rebuke of judge Sumi’s purely partisan judicial activism. The only open question is how this ruling will effect next month’s recall elections? I’m not convinced will have any significant impact, but given the furor surrounding the Prosser\/Kloppenburg race, it may turn out to animate the left far more than they would otherwise be… Time will tell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the controversial collective bargaining reforms passed by the State Legislature in March can go into effect. The 4-3 ruling found that circuit-court judge Maryann Sumi, exceeded her authority in overturning the law: The court found a committee of lawmakers was not subject to the state\u2019s open meetings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26,7],"tags":[1140,1129,63,1128],"class_list":{"0":"post-4032","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-economy","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-collective-bargaining","9":"tag-scott-walker","10":"tag-unions","11":"tag-wisconsin","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-132","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3912,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/10\/wisconsin-gop-ends-union-reforms-stalemate\/","url_meta":{"origin":4032,"position":0},"title":"Wisconsin GOP Ends Union Reforms Stalemate","author":"Jeff","date":"March 10, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Republican senators in Wisconsin broke the weeks long stalemate over Governor Scott Walker's collective bargaining reforms last night. In short, once it became clear that senate democrats, who had fled the state to delay action on the bill, were unwilling negotiate republicans amended the bill to remove appropriations and passed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3849,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/07\/are-wisconsin-democrats-getting-ready-to-end-budget-standoff\/","url_meta":{"origin":4032,"position":1},"title":"Are Wisconsin Democrats Getting Ready to End Budget Standoff?","author":"Jeff","date":"March 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Maybe, there are conflicting reports out this morning. The Wall Street Journal says yes: Playing a game of political chicken, Democratic senators who fled Wisconsin to stymie restrictions on public-employee unions said Sunday they planned to come back from exile soon, betting that even though their return will allow the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4154,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/08\/12\/unconstitutional-11th-circuit-strikes-down-obamacare-mandate\/","url_meta":{"origin":4032,"position":2},"title":"Unconstitutional: 11th Circuit strikes down Obamacare mandate","author":"Jeff","date":"August 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, based in Atlanta, ruled today that Congress exceeded its Constitutional authority by requiring Americans to buy health insurance coverage. The 2-1 ruling also found that the rest of the law could stand. I'm still reviewing the 200 plus page majority opinion\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Breaking News"","block_context":{"text":"Breaking News","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/breaking-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2547,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/28\/senate-judiciary-committee-approves-sotomayor\/","url_meta":{"origin":4032,"position":3},"title":"Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Sotomayor","author":"Jeff","date":"July 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The Senate Judiciary Committee voted largely along party lines to approve the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was the only Republican to vote in favor of sending Judge Sotomayor's nomination to the full senate: The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-6 to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Law"","block_context":{"text":"Law","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/law\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3327,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/18\/breaking-connecticut-supreme-court-rules-bysiewicz-not-eligible-to-run-for-ag\/","url_meta":{"origin":4032,"position":4},"title":"Breaking: Connecticut Supreme Court Rules Bysiewicz Not Eligible To Run For AG","author":"Jeff","date":"May 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Connecticut Supreme Court today overturned a lower court ruling that would have allowed Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz to run for attorney general. The court's 7-0 decision found that Bysiewicz's duties as secretary of the state did not qualify as the practice of law, meaning she does not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3758,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/12\/13\/breaking-federal-judge-rules-obamacare-individual-mandate-unconstitutional\/","url_meta":{"origin":4032,"position":5},"title":"Breaking: Federal Judge Rules ObamaCare Individual Mandate Unconstitutional","author":"Jeff","date":"December 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"U.S. District Court judge Henry Hudson has ruled key provision of the Democrats health care reform law unconstitutional. from The Wall Street Journal: A federal district judge sided with the state of Virginia in its challenge to the health law passed in March, saying Congress exceeded its \"constitutional boundaries\" when\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Breaking News"","block_context":{"text":"Breaking News","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/breaking-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}