Breaking: Activist Judge Blocks WI Union Bill
Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, March 18, 2011, 6:55 AM
She didn’t like it.
Activist judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order on the Wisconsin Republican union bill today.
Maryann Sumi
1998 – Current
JS Online reported:
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.
Sumi has a history of controversal rulings.
In February 2011, in the middle of a statewide debate regarding labor unions’ collective bargaining, Judge Sumi refused the Madison School District’s request to send teachers back to work. The district asked the judge to impose a temporary restraining order to bar teachers from participating in further work stoppages. It referred to the teachers’ protests in the capital as a strike, which are illegal under state law. The judge refused to categorize the work stoppage as a strike and said that the district could not prove irreparable harm had been caused by the teachers.
And this is exactly the reason why the radical left must be defeated in election after election… So that they will not be able to place their activist judges into positions of power.
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SturJen commented:
oh BullSh*t! There is no merit to this.
This is just a Lib Judge trying to bully the Senators and Assemblymen who voted for this bill. The bill was passed LAWFULLY and we, the people of the State of Wisconsin are getting pretty sick and tired of LIBS trying to skirt the will of the people of this state!
lakewriter commented:
SturJen – can you explain why this thuggery on the streets is being allowed to go on? We watched TN where thugs tried to disrupt their meeting, law enforcement came in, arrests were made, end of story. They were stopped dead in their tracks. I dont understand and would sincerely appreciate an ‘insiders’ viewpoint. Thanks.
Chisum commented:
Secretary of State Doug La Follette had no intention of publishing until the last possible minute anyway. I believe the deadline for him to publish is March 26.
The Tonester commented:
Gov Walker should ignore the judge
patman commented:
Time to start showing up at her house, favorite breakfast joint, kids schools, stores where she and her family shops…. Wait.
What? Who’s side is she on???
Beef commented:
Leftist, anti-democratic, anti-Constututionlist judges represent an intolerable affront to functioning of the Republic.
Scott commented:
So, now that the fleebaggers decided to pretend that they are adults by coming back home, why don’t they re-ensure compliance with the “open meetings” law and re-pass that damn thing? I’m sure everybody in WI will love this activist judge wasting taxpayer money on a B.S. technicality.
Militant Conservative commented:
Judges can be recalled too.
powder is dry
Ma commented:
Agree with the above posts, the governor should just ignore it. Like bambi has on obummercare and drilling.
srhoades commented:
Don’t you dare criticize her. Any criticism will be considered a threat against her, because you have bruised her delicate ego, and you will be branded a violent hater!
RedBeard commented:
Not at all unexpected. The union goons probably had this jerk judge prepped and ready long ago, and just needed to flip her switch to “on.”
StrangernFiction commented:
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute…….”
bigkahuna commented:
Screw her…Obama and dummycrats and unions dont care about laws and common sense… Just ignore the b*tch and move on. Also defund her court or judge position. see how she likes the unemployment line
Granny commented:
Even better: she is going on a ten day vacation and will not be back until March 28!
We didn’t really think that the leftists were going to allow this to be implemented did we? Obviously the rule of law means jack-all – at least in the People’s Republic of Wisconsin.
WTFPRESIDENT commented:
Give the 24 hour notice….
Take the vote before the fleabaggers can leave again
gus commented:
Liberals don’t care what the law is.
mg4us commented:
She should have recused herself from the case given her prior rulings and bias.. . especially if she is going on vacation and cannot hear the case with expediency.
Judicial abuse of power should not stand.
Recall the judge. . in the meantime, maybe a legal & lawful first amendment demonstration against biased & activist judges held in front of her house and work or even her vacation lodging should take place until she steps aside.
retire05 commented:
Here is the money quote:
“Sumi said that Ozanne was likely to succeed on the merits.”
So Sumi has NOT heard the merits of the case, simply issuing a restraining order until the merits can be heard, but she has already decided that Ozanne was likely to win?
If Sumi rules against the Governor, this will go to the Appeals court. But good news, it will not be handled by the 9th Circus Court of Appeals. If it fails in Appeals, this will go all the way to SCOTUS as what the Dems are trying to do is usurp the rule of the people through their elected officials.
It is time that we elect judges (as most judges are elected in my home state) and stop the presidental appointment of federal judges.
I don’t see how Ozanne will win on the merits in a higher court. But hey, the unions have a lot to lose so they are going to pour money into trying to sway the court.
WTFPRESIDENT commented:
Send out the LAYOFF NOTICES
Dave-O commented:
Judge Sumi is nothing more than a puppet on a string held by the goonion thugs and bosses in Wisconsin. She will do as she is told – or she will have her house picketed and kids harassed. The message has been sent and it will be enforced. The goonion lawyers probably wrote the TRO for her and all she had to do was sign it.
Taqiyyotomist commented:
Indeed, why can’t Walker just ignore the judge — you know, like their leader Obama is doing with at least three judges right now? Good for the goose….
Ellie Light commented:
Isn’t this a reason to make judges accountable to the electorate for legislating from the bench? Shouldn’t a judge who has his decision overturned by the legislature three times be removed if such a measure were possible. Imagine how some of the far out decisions of our unelected elites might change if they’d be at risk.
Ginger commented:
Check the judges bank account! Swiss accounts comes to mind!
Rhymes With Right commented:
Problem — the law they are using to block implementation of this one does not apply to the legislature.
19.87 Legislative meetings. This subchapter [i.e., Subchapter V: Open Meetings of Governmental Bodies] shall apply to all meetings of the senate and assembly and the committees, subcommittees and other subunits thereof, except that:
(2) No provision of this subchapter which conflicts with a rule of the senate or assembly or joint rule of the legislature shall apply to a meeting conducted in compliance with such rule.
Mad Hatter commented:
You guys aren’t surprised by this, are you? This is a page out of the lefts playbook, don’t get what you want, shop it to a favorable Judge and hold it up in the Courts for awhile to help build public opinion in your favor.
The left is showing how desperate they are to stop legal legislation.
Robert commented:
“Sumi said Ozanne was likely to succeed on the merits.”
So the liberal judge has shown a bias toward one side of the case.
Dave J commented:
let me guess….she is going to vacation in Illinois?
CNC commented:
This is exactly why there needs to be a way to rein in activist judges. And here’s one solution: any judge, overturned 5 times, should be removed the bench as incompetent. This nonsense of leaving a judge in power after being repeatedly overturned is damaging to the whole nation. This certainly would cure the problem of the 9th circuit, the most activist and overturned federal circuit in history.
Mad Hatter commented:
Her ruling is worthless, and she knows it. Don’t count on the Alinsky Media to notify you of the Wisconsin Law.
Senate Rule 93. Special, extended or extraordinary sessions. Unless otherwise provided by the senate for a specific special, extended or extraordinary session, the rules of the senate adopted for the regular session shall, with the following modifications, apply to each special session called by the governor and to each extended or extraordinary session called by the senate and assembly organization committees or called by a joint resolution approved by both houses:
(1) No senate bill, senate joint resolution or senate resolution shall be considered unless it is germane to the subjects enumerated by the governor in the proclamation calling the special session or to the subjects enumerated by the committees on organization or in the joint resolution calling the extended or extraordinary session and is recommended for introduction by the committee on senate organization or by the joint committee on employment relations.
(2) No notice of hearing before a committee shall be required other than posting on the legislative bulletin board, and no bulletin of committee hearings shall be published.
(3) The daily calendar shall be in effect immediately upon posting on the legislative bulletin boards. The calendar need not be distributed.
(4) Any point of order shall be decided within one hour.
(5) No motion shall be entertained to postpone action to a day or time certain.
(6) Any motion to advance a proposal and any motion to message a proposal to the other house may be adopted by a majority of those present and voting.
http://legis.wisconsin.gov/rules/SenateRules.html#Rule%2093
A_Nonny_Mouse commented:
#11 March 18, 2011 at 11:41 am
RedBeard commented:
Not at all unexpected. The union goons probably had this jerk judge prepped and ready long ago, and just needed to flip her switch to “on.”
============================
Yep. Same rationale as with the George Soros-funded “Secretary of State Project”. Get sympathizers established in targeted high offices –way before they’re needed– so when the critical issues arrive, the minions are already in place and ready to pass judgment as per their puppet masters’ instructions.
An aside — y’know, I didn’t used to have this “I see conspiracies” mindset. But I sure do now. *AM* I overly-paranoid, or are “these times” sufficiently weird to justify my concerns? Somebody please reassure me…..
valerie commented:
Good comments about this ruling
http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2011/03/if-need-be-re-pass-law-and-include.html
I assume that the state will seek an immediate appeal to overturn the injunction. But should the state fail to get it overturned immediately, the legislature simply should re-vote, with more notice. Either the Democrats will run away again, or they will show up. Either way, the result is the same — the law passes.
But if a re-vote is required, I suggest the Republicans include the police unions this time. The police unions have acted dishonorably throughout this controversy, from an off-duty police union member encouraging civil disobedience and suggesting that the police would refuse to follow direction from the legislature, to the statewide police union which sent intimidating letters to businesses demanding support for the unions.
****************
I agree, but I wouldn’t waste the time or money to challenge the ruling. I’d just set it up for a vote, and include the police union.
Mark commented:
Take this stupid bitch off the bench.
Ladue Pundit commented:
Valerie–great idea. I can just imagine the anarchy if the police were included. Better have the state militia standing by for the explosion of unrest that would immediately result.
Buffalobob commented:
Sodexo USA Files RICO Lawsuit Against SEIU
Gary commented:
It’s so demoralizing.
When we lose, we lose (elections have consequences).
When we win, we lose (they always have a countermeasure in place).
Somebody please give me some good news (that lasts).
RedBeard commented:
#37: Gary, there’s always secession, as a last-ditch fall-back position to save what’s left of this country.
Up until 2 years ago, I would NEVER have said such a thing seriously. Now…………
burt commented:
Judges have no authority over the state legislatures. The legislature makes their own rules.
Gary commented:
Ellie Light, CNC
the problem with that idea is that it cuts both ways. When the higher court or SCOTUS swings back left, they’ll be overturning conservatives and getting them disrobed.
remember there are ony 4 and 1/2 conservatives on the Supreme Court, it could easily go either way, and if Obama gets 4 more years, we’ll likely see 1 to 1 and 1/2 more liberals by 2016
Gary commented:
Redbeard
I’ve been looking at Alaska.
It’s huge, not contiguous with the lower 48
lots of resources
It could be a kind of Atlas Shrugged retreat for conservatives.
no wait, what am I talking about?
let’s stay and make them leave.
now I’m picturing an island somewhere far off the east coast.
Just hope their egos don’t make it capsize
Guy in Ohio commented:
I say give the required notice, and vote again. They should have done that the day the Fleebaggers came back …
Highlander commented:
If were the the Republican Senate Majority leader, I would first lock the Dems in and then bring this up for a vote a gain pronto.
Tired of this crazy nonsense commented:
Are you folks insane? A preliminary injunction/TRO just means the implimentation of the collective bargining act is stayed until there is a full trial on the merits. These things are issued by courts all the time for all sorts of cases from stuff like this to contract disputes, divorces, property cases, it’s not like the trial judge is pulling an unfounded ruling out of thin air. Our legal system prefers to maintain a status quo until the issues of a case are fully hashed out. Part of the legal analysis for getting this sort of injunction is the court has to see if there is a chance the plaintiff could actually succeed in proving their case. The court here isn’t having a trial on the actual evidence at this stage. Stop trying to find conspiracies and “judicial activisim” where it doesn’t exist.
LongStoryShort commented:
As a business owner and a family man I must say that I never knew WI was such a bastion of liberal absurdity. Never, would I ever locate a business there, nor would I ever move there and have my kids go to their schools run by those defiant teachers.
No matter how you dice and slice this story, a very big part of it is that the Liberals have given WI a big black eye. How is it that they don’t see how their hysterical antics and demands for minority rule are so repelling to just regular people? I wish upon WI the same results achieved by all the cities that had racial riots in the 60’s and 70’s. May they be redlined by regular people and their businesses move elsewhere.
Annas commented:
This is so discouraging. We talk about the illegality of this here at this site–but WHO will actually DO something about it?? As #37 says–when we lose, we lose but when we win, we lose as well. They just refuse to accept that we won, go on doing what they want, and NO ONE does a damn thing about it! Who, I ask again, will stop this??
Annas commented:
#44 YOU are the insane one! Go back to your Soros run website!
rabblerouser commented:
saw that coming before the vote was tallied
pj commented:
Walker needs to start layoffs starting withthe people who work for the courts,teachers and cops,two can play this game.
WTFPRESIDENT commented:
Give 24 hr notice
Redo the bill with the police union included since they have so disrespected their jobs.
Vote…..
squeaky commented:
there was some quizzing about whether or not the dems fled the state to delay the vote long enough to pass union business. and i believe the signed bill had to be posted by the one charged with posting it who admittedly was holding off for 10 days. what’s being passed through while the dems and their willing accomplices block the changes? maybe when bill has been totally neutered the judge will lift the block.
Dubya Bee commented:
Much as I despise the left, and her ruling, I have to point out that she was appointed by Tommy Thompson, a Republican.
RedBeard commented:
#52: More proof that the “R” label is nearly worthless.
Wiscp commented:
How is this “activist?” Wisconsin’s open meetings law requires 24 hour notice before this kind of a vote or two hours if it’s an emergency. The GOP didn’t meet either time period.
And here’s a fun fact: the GOP could just reschedule a vote and do it again. But they’re not. Why? Probably because the votes aren’t there anymore. The window of opportunity for passing this dog of a bill has closed — that’s why Republicans were in such a rush to jam this thing through.
Zim commented:
Order in some pizza and block the doors with state troopers. Give the 24 hour notice and wait it out. Vote and go home. If not the fleebaggers will run to Illinois again. Plan B: lay off all the 1500 teachers.
Vladtheimp commented:
Inasmuch as this ruling places the situation back to where it was before the legislation was passed, and nothing has changed to ameliorate the fiscal problems that caused the legislature to propose the legislation, Governor Walker should re-instate his notices of layoffs to the state employees who received a reprieve when the legislation was passed.
When layoffs are effectuated, the impacted state workers can place the blame squarely beneath the robes of the most high and Honorable Judge Maryann. The Professor can explain it all to Gilligan, Mr. and Mrs Thurston Howell will be off the hook. Ginger can cheer lead and dance in the State Capitol (probably not – she’s too good looking to be a democrat or a Commie.)
Mutaman commented:
“And this is exactly the reason why the radical left must be defeated in election after election… So that they will not be able to place their activist judges into positions of power.”
Actually, Judge Sumi was appointed by Governor Tommy Thompson, a Republican.
aprilnovember811 commented:
Can she be impeached or recalled. If so, it should be done. I think it’s time for the legislature to walk into her courtroom and rule on her rules. Who in the hell does this rogue judge think she is. REMOVE HER!
a former democrat commented:
the 14 fleebagers are back, so why can’t the governor just pass that original bill now that quorum can be held.
don’t split the bill, just pass it the original bill, it will pass both houses, post it for 24 hours, and vote on it.
angryamerican commented:
This don’t mean squat. Even if she finds a way to uphold it, the bill voted on again, and will pass again. This time, it will be the whole bill, not just the collective bargaining portion of it. That’s IF the “fleabaggers” don’t leave the state again. If nothing else was gained, Gov. Scott “He’s Got Nads” Walker FINALLY got these “fleabaggers’” asses back in the state where they belong. RECALL THE 14!!!
Opaobie commented:
A serious mistake Governor Walker made, and it was simply an act of good faith to try to simmer down the tempers, was to rescind the layoff notices right after the bill was passed and signed. He should have waited until AFTER the law had been published. That would have put the pressure on the Dems to allow it to be published as passed or face the wrath of the laid off government Union workers.
Mikey commented:
What a bunch of unAmericans posting here! Activist judge?? A judge is only an activist when you lose a ruling. The ruling is only a TRO. walker is a hack for the unAmerican thievery Koch brothers. The best money can buy. The people here are myopic, ignorant, unAmerican. Some apparently don’t believe in the rule of law, don’t truly understand the court system, and have 1 creado: My Way or the Highway! That’s not how a democracy works. These posts here are much like Germany 1930′s!
Opaobie commented:
Mikey, there are five tests applied to a petition challenging a law, and this petition fails all five of them. The petitioner did not even prove that he had “standing” to file, so any judge but an activist HACK like this one would have dismissed the petition at that point. I’ll leave it to you to research and find out what the other four tests are…that is, if your mommy will let you use the computer for that long after your bed time.
Blacque Jacques Shellacque commented:
This development is a leftist hallmark – when they lose, immediately it’s off to court.
BobMan commented:
The defiant Liberals are simply laying down the ground work for their own demise. By acting with such hysteria about the results of free and fair elections, they are making it known that no matter what happens, they are not going to abide by the law. They want minority mob rule to trump the democratic process.
When enough rational people figure out that the liberals have no respect for either the democratic process or the rule of law, there will be violence. We simply cannot live side by side with anarchists. If this keeps up, reasonable people are going to have to consider whether we all go down because of them, or we just start taking them out.
Like we used to say in the streets where I grew up – Don’t START any trouble, and there won’t BE any trouble. The blood will be on their hands.
traditions commented:
She is up for re-election April 5, 2011. She is running unopposed.
Is it too late for a write in candidate ?
RedBeard commented:
#62: It’s really astounding to see so many misrepresentations piled together in one short post. But then, that’s all the lefties have to work with. Sad, really.
bob commented:
The radicals here are the Limbaugh zombies and servants of the Koch brothers. I was right of Sumi to stop the radical fascists trying to take away our country. Why can’t you far-out right wingers just go to Liberia or Somalia were the do things the way you like it. Just leave us real patriots to our country.
Independent commented:
Judge Maryann Sumi .. appointed by Gov. Tommy Thompson (R)- A REPUBLICAN. I guess Republican appointed judges are activists?????????
Chisum commented:
Good try, Independent. No cookie for you.
http://biggovernment.com/mtrackers/2011/03/22/judge-sumis-husband-donated-to-three-of-badger-14/