BartBlog

Author’s note:
Yes, I realize the events in Japan have much more global significance than the events in Madison, WI, but I am sticking with the story in Madison. The court ruling, while insignificant in terms of stopping the bill(s) from passing, is a clear example that the GOP will push the legal limits in order to further their agenda. One must ask themselves: What would have been the outcome if the courts in Madison were stacked with GOP judges like the courts in most other states?

Excerpt:
Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order in Dane County Circuit Court on Friday blocking a new and controversial law that eliminates nearly all collective bargaining rights for most public employees. While opponents of the bill consider the ruling a victory, proponents say the legal setback is unlikely to prevent the ultimate implementation of the law and the passage of Gov. Walker’s budget bill.

The collective bargaining law cannot go into effect until it is published by Secretary of State Doug La Follette. The ruling delays publication of the law until March 29, when Judge Sumi plans to hold a full hearing on a lawsuit that questions the validity of the law based on the speedy manner in which it was carried out earlier this month. An appeal is possible before then.

The case was brought before Judge Sumi by Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne who seeks to block the law, which Walker signed last Friday, arguing that a legislative committee violated the state’s open meetings law in passing the measure.

Wisconsin’s open meetings law requires a legislative committee to provide public notice of meetings 24 hours in advance, or two hours in emergencies, and allow public access to the meeting.

Ozanne’s suit alleges that the emergency standard did not apply and that even if it did, the meeting did not follow the law because the committee met with less than two hours’ notice. Ozanne also argued that the meeting violated the law because public access was restricted due to tight security at the Capitol and because it was held in a small room unable to accommodate the large crowd trying to get in. Ozanne had to show a probability that the case would succeed on its merits and that irreparable harm would occur if it did not.

Judge Sumi, who was first appointed to the bench by former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson in 1998, ruled that the meeting was likely to have been held in violation of the open meetings law because a joint Assembly-Senate conference committee did not provide the public with adequate notice before approving the bill March 9.

Opponents of the measure hope the decision is the first of many that would ultimately undo legislation that has split the state and drawn tens of thousands of demonstrators to the capitol over a matter of many weeks. Supporters of the measure suggest the judge’s decision is certain to be overturned as various legal efforts make their way fully through the court system, and is merely a speed bump to the ultimate implementation of the law and passage of the budget bill.

While it is nearly impossible for state Democrats to stop the collective bargaining and budget bills from passing with Republicans dominating all bodies of the state legislature, the ruling today is a minor victory in some respects: It keeps the budget battle in the media spotlight and on the minds of Wisconsinites, it buys time while efforts to recall Republican State Senators, and ultimately Gov. Walker, gain momentum, and shows that state Republicans will push legal boundaries in order to further their agenda.

If recall efforts are successful, both the collective bargaining law and the budget bill can be repealed as early as 2012 and the state constitution can be amended to protect against further assaults on Wisconsin working families by future legislators as early as 2013.

Read more, get links, video and a slideshow here: Madison Independent Examiner – Significance of court order blocking collective bargaining law is debatable