Judge issues temporary order barring Wis. public union law’s implementation

MADISON, Wis. — 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 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 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 could not be reach for immediate comment.

Amanda Todd, a spokeswoman for the state courts system, had no immediate comment on when any 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.

Republicans created a conference committee late March 9, and the committee met shortly thereafter. Passage by the committee was key to getting the bill to Gov. Scott 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 is against four Republican legislative leaders who were on the committee — Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, Senate President Mike Ellis, Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald and Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder.

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.

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