Third time is a charm: Silly activist WI judge fixes her TRO for the third time

WISC-TV: Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued the amended ruling at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday. She had earlier issued an emergency order blocking Wisconsin's secretary of state from publishing the law, called Wisconsin Act 10. However, Sumi re-issued her order on Tuesday after a hearing and this time, she has warned that any officials who violated it will face sanctions.

The judge further amended the ruling on Thursday to read, "Further, based on the briefs of counsel, the uncontroverted testimony, and the evidence received at the March 29 evidentiary hearing, it is hereby declared that 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 has not been published."

The judge said Tuesday that her previous order was "misunderstood or ignored" and that "those who act in open defiance of a court order are in peril of sanctions." [MORE]

Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive! Judge Sumi is a complete and utter hack of the first magnitude. Moe Lane very nicely details the comedy of errors Hack Sumi has committed:

• Wisconsin Democratic Senators run away rather than do their jobs. This prevents a quorum for bills that are primarily financial in nature.
• Wisconsin Republican Senators end up passing what they can, including a critical union reform bill.
• Having returned from self-imposed Illinois exile, Wisconsin Democrats find a convenient judge (Maryann Sumi) to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO), on what is frankly a misunderstanding of the law.
• Judge Sumi makes a mistake in the TRO by only enjoining the Secretary of State (Democrat) from publishing the law. For example, she did not enjoin the Legislative Research Bureau (LRB) from publishing the law, despite the fact that they are required to by law.
• The LRB publishes the law, as per their statutory requirements; as the TRO did not cover that department, they have no choice.
• On Monday, the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DoJ) points this detail out to Judge Sumi and asks her to vacate the order, given that the law is published.
• On Tuesday, Judge Sumi reissues her TRO to prevent implementation of the law.
• On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Department of Administration (DoA) points out that this ruling was flawed in that it: did not in fact indicate that the law is not in effect; explicitly declined to state that the law was not legally published; and since when did Judge Sumi get to presume to drag the DoA (a non-party in the original dispute) into this mess she made in the first place?
• On Thursday, Judge Sumi has to fix her TRO again to rule that the law is not published, in a fashion that satisfies the DoA.
• At some point in all of this Judge Sumi somewhat plaintively (if you’ll pardon the pun) wonders aloud why the legislative branch simply just doesn’t pass the law again.
• To which Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R) effectively replies “Because we did it right the first time, and it’s not like I tell you how to run a courtroom.” Left off is the unstated “Although I apparently should.”

Keep in mind all of this foolishness is over a perceived technical mistake pertaining to how much time was given to announce the vote of the bill.  Whether a mistake was made or not, the outcome would have been exactly the same ... the bill would have passed because Democrats do not have enough votes to stop it.  From this simple fact alone, Judge Sumi had no business issuing a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the first place.

This judge should be removed from the bench immediately, not just because she is a partisan hack with family ties to the unions, but because she has proven herself to be absolutely incompetent.

Scott Walker and the Republicans are foolishly going to comply with the ruling. If I were them I would pass the bill again and publicaly state they are doing it because they have zero faith in Judge Sumi's impartiality and competence. To do anything less only gives credence to a damn fool.

Via: Memeorandum
Via: WISC_TV
Via: Moe Lane
Via: Red State

Silly activist judge halts Wisconsin's collective bargaining law

Journal Sentinel: Madison -- Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order Friday, barring the publication of a controversial new 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 until she can rule on the merits of the case. Dane County Ismael Ozanne is seeking to block the law because he says a legislative committee violated the state’s open meetings law.

Sumi 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 Republican Gov. Scott Walker and a victory for opponents, who have spent weeks in the Capitol to protest the bill. [MORE]

This judge is being a silly activist. Her temporary restraining order will have zero effect on the outcome of this law.

From attorney William Jacobson from Legal Insurrection explains the threshold of a temporary restraining order.

If this report accurately reflects the ruling, then the ruling is profoundly weak. The standard for a TRO requires a showing of likelihood of success on the merits, irreparable harm, and that a balancing of the equities supports granting the injunction. Some courts also consider whether granting the TRO will harm the public interest, but where the state is the party, this test really is subsumed in the balancing of the equities test.

OK, lets unpack this. Judge Sumi's issued a TRO because the plaintiff says the Senate Republicans did not provide sufficient time to call the committee meeting that started the passage of the bill. OK, if that is true, then where is the irreparable harm when Democrats do not have enough votes to stop Republicans from passing the law in the end? In other words, the outcome would be exactly the same whether sufficient time was given to call the committee meeting or not.

Even now the Republicans can simply do the whole thing over again and again the result will be the same ... the law passes. Judge Sumi is just being a partisan hack. This is why I have very little faith in ObamaCare being repealed via the Supreme Court. So long as judges can pull stuff out of thin air there is no reason to count on them to do the right thing.

Via: Memeorandum
Via: Journal Sentinel
Via: Legal Insurrection

Scott Walker signs collective bargaining bill into law - layoffs recinded

Journal Sentinel: Madison — Gov. Scott Walker signed his bill Friday repealing most collective bargaining by public employee unions, dealing a blow to the labor movement that turned out massive demonstrations in an effort to kill the proposal.

The Republican governor signed the budget-repair bill privately in the morning and will hold a news conference later in the day to tout the signing and talk about the tumultuous past few weeks. Also Friday, Walker directed the Office of State Employment Relations to rescind layoff notices because the Legislature had passed the bill.

In a statement, Walker said jobs were saved by passing the bill, which solves part but not all of a budget shortfall.

"The Legislature helped us save 1,500 middle-class jobs by moving forward this week with the budget repair," his statement said. "The state will now be able to realize $30 million in savings to balance the budget and allow 1,500 state employees to keep their jobs. The reforms contained in this legislation, which require modest health care and pension contributions from all public employees, will help put Wisconsin on a path to fiscal sustainability." [MORE]

Now that the collective bargaining parts of Walker's budget repair bill has passed, the question becomes what will the Democrats do about the fiscal parts of the bill. I imagine they are going to try to play retribution to gum up the works. That is just the way they roll.

With this victory under his belt, Scott Walker become the new tough guy in the Republican Party. As for Chris Christie I think this old Janet Jackson tune applies:

Via: Memeorandum
Via: Journal Sentinel

Done! Wisconsin Assembly passes Nuke Option 53-42

Associated Press: MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin lawmakers voted Thursday to strip nearly all collective bargaining rights from the state's public workers, ending a heated standoff over labor rights and delivering a key victory to Republicans who have targeted unions in efforts to slash government spending nationwide.

The state's Assembly passed Gov. Scott Walker's explosive proposal 53-42 without any Democratic support and four no votes from the GOP. Protesters in the gallery erupted into screams of "Shame! Shame! Shame!" as Republican lawmakers filed out of the chamber and into the speaker's office.

The state's Senate used a procedural move to bypass missing Democrats and move the measure forward Wednesday night, meaning the plan that delivers one of the strongest blows to union power in years now requires only Walker's signature to take effect. [MORE]

Given the swiftness in which Republicans have acted, I cannot help but say it again, why did they wait so long?  

Public employee unions across the nation have just been served notice, that their comfy cash cow racket is about to be lost forever.  States across the nation who are in tighter jams than Wisconsin are going to start taking a long hard look at reforming public employee pensions, benefits and salaries.  No longer will these items be off the table.  In many states, legislatures will take aim at the collection of union dues as well.

Via: Associated Press

Via: Legal Insurrection 

KA-BOOM! Wisconsin Senate Republicans pass collective bargaining portions of budget repair bill

Wisconsin Senate Republicans have exploded the Nuke Option on Governor Scott Walker's budget repair bill. Republicans stripped out all the fiscal language and passed the collective bargaining portions of the bill without the need for quorum.

Journal Sentinel: Madison — The Senate abruptly passed a controversial budget-repair bill Wedneday night - without Democrats - and sent the measure to the Assembly, which is expected to pass it Thursday.

The bill eliminates almost all collective bargaining for public workers.

It passed18-1, with Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) casting the no vote. None of the 14 Senate Democrats was present.[...]

But late Wednesday, a committee stripped some elements from the bill that they said allowed them to pass it with a simple majority present. The most controversial parts of the bill remain intact.

The Senate abruptly sent the budget-repair bill Wednesday to the committee of legislators from both houses at about 4 p.m. and the committee convened at 6, taking action within minutes.

The Assembly earlier had passed the original measure and now must take up the version from which fiscal matters were removed. [MORE]

The Wisconsin Senate Republicans should have taken this route two weeks ago when it became quite clear the the AWOL Democrats were not going to return. This would have saved weeks of protest and certainly would not have allowed the left to sway public opinion.

The Assembly must vote on the new bill tomorrow. Between now and then I fully expect the left to raise all kinds of hell in a futile attempt to stop it. Should Wisconsin Republicans succeed in curtailing public employee's collective bargaining options, and survive doing so, then expect these measures to catch on like wildfire across the nation. This is why I also suspect that the left is going to make sure maximum chaos insures after the vote.

Via: Memeorandum
Via: Journal Sentinel Online

Chris Christie on collective bargaining

The Right Scoop: He says he’s all in with collective bargaining and he’d probably do a good job. I just wonder if he’s really considering the New Jersey taxpayer for the long term. More to the point, what happens when he’s gone and the unions get another lackey in the governor’s office? That must be a consideration.

Bingo, that is the exact problem with Christie's view on collective bargaining. Christie is thinking in the here and now, not long term.  What happens when a Democrat is in charge who has received massive contributions from the same unions he must negotiate with?  


What is needed are built in protections for the taxpayer so that no matter who is governor taxpayers cannot be hosed by unions.  The best way to achieve that is to curb the scope of collective bargaining. 


The problem for Christie is that he does not have the legislature to help him achieve long term changes.  In New Jersey Democrats still outnumber Republicans in both the Assembly and the Senate and no amount of Christie toughness can make them curtail collective bargaining. 


Via: The Right Scoop