Search






Jeff's Amazon.com Wish List

Archive Calendar

November 2024
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  

Archives

Wisconsin "this is what democracy looks like!" update

From the Corner:

Wisconsin’s attorney general, J.B. Van Hollen, has appealed Sumi’s order to Wisconsin’s Fourth District Court of Appeals. Text of the appeal can be found here.

Van Hollen’s argument appears to hinge on three main points:

1. The Dane County district attorney lacks standing to challenge the actions of the legislature, as legislators are granted immunity from prosecution by the state constitution.

2. The judicial branch has no authority to halt the publication of an act. The attorney general argues that a law cannot be properly challenged until it actually becomes law, and cites Wisconsin Supreme Court case history to show that Sumi’s temporary restraining order was unprecedented. A previous court ruling held that “no court has jurisdiction to enjoin the legislative process at any point,” which is exactly what Sumi’s order sought to do.

3. No violation of the state’s open-meeting law actually occurred to warrant blockage of the law’s publication. Wisconsin statutes provide that when legislative rules and state statutes conflict, it is the rules that take precedent. Walker’s bill was passed in a special session, and legislative rules allow special-session bills to circumvent the normal 24-hour notice requirement.

Included in Van Hollen’s filing is a request to appeal the case directly to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The Dane County district attorney has filed his response to Van Hollen with the appeals court. (Text here.) The bill was originally scheduled to become law on March 25, but now the timetable for enactment is unknown.

Personally, I think Walker should simply ignore the ruling. The court has no jurisdiction over the rules of the legislature, and pretending that it does sets a bad precedent.

But then, I’m all for subjecting police and fire fighters to the same rules for collective bargaining as the rest of the public sector employees in Wisconsin. And I’d begin a recall of Judge Sumi. Which makes me a bit of an extremist.

So. Grain of salt, etc.

19 Replies to “Wisconsin "this is what democracy looks like!" update”

  1. Russ says:

    But then, I’m all for subjecting police and fire fighters to the same rules for collective bargaining as the rest of the public sector employees in Wisconsin.

    FTFY.

  2. Russ says:

    (But then, I’m extremist to the max — I don’t think public sector employees ought to be unionized at all.

    Which puts me in some good company, or so I’m told.)

  3. newrouter says:

    On April 5, Wisconsinites will go to the poll to pick a new supreme court justice. The election has gained prominence because many political analysts believe the Budget Repair Bill may one day end up before the high court. Throughout the campaign, challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg has claimed she is politically unbiased and impartial. However analysis of her political history, donations and comments have called that into question. Now Media Trackers has learned that Kloppenburg accepted a campaign donation from the husband of Judge Maryann Sumi, the judge who caused a firestorm of controversy by blocking Gov. Scott Walker’s budget repair bill.

    JoAnne Kloppenburg Accepted Donation From Judge Sumi’s Husband

  4. Ernst Schreiber says:

    Why wait for recall when you can just impeach?

  5. cranky-d says:

    I agree that Walker should ignore the ruling, for the reasons you stated. Also, the foaming at the mouth of the left would be legendary.

  6. Rick says:

    The TRO was issued by a county judge, I understand. Does her
    “ruling” have jurisdiction over the entire state.

    In order to prevent the bad precedent of a low-level in-the-pocket hack from gumming up the works of the people, why not settle for splitting the baby? Just don’t publish the law in
    Dane county alone?

    Put me some lawyering knowledge.

    Cordially…

  7. Lazarus Long says:

    “Personally, I think Walker should simply ignore the rulling”

    Exactly my thought.

    Remember, Abe Lincoln was a Republican.

  8. mojo says:

    “I have a temporary restraining order!”
    “From the Small Claims Court? Get lost, pal.”

  9. newrouter says:

    “this is what democracy looks like!”

    Former neo-Nazi becomes leftist after sex change

    Published: 12 Mar 11 09:21 CET

    Before undergoing a sex change to become a woman, Monika Strub was a member of Germany’s neo-Nazi NPD party. But ten years later, she is running for Baden-Württemberg’s state parliament for the socialist Left party.

    link

  10. antillious says:

    I think he should do both. Just ignore the halt, and take a bit of time to legally remind the judge that while her ideas are cute and all, the adults are talking and she should go back to the kiddy table (county court). It’s helpful to point out WHY the ruling is totally off base. Put it on the books so this doesn’t become the standard way of doing things.

  11. Squid says:

    What WI really needs is a wise latina.

  12. newrouter says:

    But maybe I am being too harshly literal in my analysis. So let’s cut this ignorant attorney some slack and allow for the sake of argument that he is not literally comparing Governor Walker to Marie Antoinette, but that he is merely attempting to draw a more general political analogy between Republicans and the pre-revolutionary French aristocracy. Might that be it?

    It is not open to serious dispute that two of the primary causes of the French Revolution were massive public debt and a privileged aristocracy that continued to live high on the hog while the country faced bankruptcy.

    Is Governor Walker behaving like a French aristocrat? Hardly. He and his political allies are trying to reign in public debt. And unlike the French ruling classes, he has to run for office and is subject to being defeated or recalled.

    I would argue that if any group resembles the French aristocracy, it is tenured state employees who cannot be fired and who are able to retire with full pensions while regular taxpayers have to work and pay for it.

    He may not be aware of it, but the man smugly waving that Marie Antoinette sign is simultaneously:

    sanctioning dishonest mob violence,

    and

    supporting Wisconsin’s ruling class artistocracy.
    Obviously he is unaware of this contradiction, for the man is still waving the Walker-as-Marie-Antoinette sign.

    link

  13. Old Texas Turkey says:

    What Wisconsin and pretty much the rest of the United States needs is a good slap on the head.

  14. newrouter says:

    The fact that the Court required expedited briefing on the issue is a sign that the Court gives the issue great weight.

    If the Court rules that Judge Sumi had no power to interfere in the legislative process, then the Court need not address at this time the remainder of her ruling. If that happens, and the Court vacates the TRO on the ground that court acted prematurely and does not rule on the other substantive aspects of her ruling, expect the parties to be back in front of Judge Sumi next week.

    Since the Secretary of State was schedule to publish the law on March 25, expect a Court of Appeals ruling by tomorrow, if not sooner.

    link

  15. zino3 says:

    This is all actually a bit scary.

    This nincompoop of a judge, who uses her title as “judge” to do her son’s will, has absolutely no business issuing such a ruling. Not based not in the law, but on some other leftist bullshit about “policy”. Policy is not the law, the LAW is the law. But the left has had enough time to corrupt and eat the brains of our children. Forget logic, and listen to the meme!

    we are in neck deep, and sinking. The left has almost gotten enough freeloaders to enforce the “Your money are my money” Marxist crap.

    Why should anyone care when all of your sweat equity is owned by the state? What they haven’t figured out (and what the USSR personified), is, where do the jobs come from when no one has ANY incentive to bust their butt?

    OBAMA’S BUTT! THAT’S WHERE! ALL THE MONEY COMES FROM HIS SPHINCTER, AND HE CAN SLAM IT SHUT WHENEVER HE FEELS LIKE IT!

    What a lying piece of sewer meat that little “O” boy is.

  16. LBascom says:

    I’m pretty sure Soros is the anti-Christ. That is one evil dude…

  17. zino3 says:

    Screw it.

    Roll the dice, scream at the results, and then pick a judge who’s son is totally involved with the unions. Jurisprudence my ass.

    God bless America.

Comments are closed.