« GOP to Tweak WiscNet Provision | Home | Secretary of State Will Follow Normal Procedure »
Justices Say Sumi Usurped Power of Legislature
By John Forester(Don't Use) | June 15, 2011
From WisPolitics:
The Supreme Court found in its ruling that Judge Maryann Sumi exceeded her authority in enjoining publication of the collective bargaining changes, finding that judges do not have the power to do so.
The justices said they granted the request to take original jurisdiction in the case because Sumi “has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature” that the “legislature shall provide by law for the speedy publication of all laws.”
“The court’s decision on the matter now presented is grounded in separation of powers principles,” the justices wrote. “It is not affected by the wisdom or lack thereof evidenced in the Act. Choices about what laws represent wise public policy for the State of Wisconsin are not within the constitutional purview of the courts. The court’s task in the action for original jurisdiction that we have granted is limited to determining whether the legislature employed a constitutionally violative process in the enactment of the Act. We conclude that the legislature did not violate the Wisconsin Constitution by the process it used.”
Justices Shirley Abrahamson, Ann Walsh Bradley and Pat Crooks concurred with the majority in part, while dissenting on other points.
The court also ruled that the Legislature did not violate a provision in the state constitution requiring the doors of each house of the Legislature will be kept open except when “the public welfare shall require secrecy.” During last week’s oral arguments, the justices asked a series of questions about the meaning of that provision and how the conference committee that approved the collective bargaining bill operated.
Dane County DA Ismael Ozanne, in bringing the complaint, charged the doors to the Senate Parlor where the committee met were locked at one point and public access to the room was limited. It was packed with reporters, and WisconsinEye broadcast the proceedings live, but some members of the public who wanted to get in were barred, according to court testimony.
“There is no constitutional requirement that the Legislature provide access to as many members of the public as wish to attend meetings of the Legislature or meetings of legislative committees,” the justices wrote.
Topics: CapitolReports, SAA Capitol Reports with Email Notifications, SAA Latest Update | No Comments »
Comments are closed.