Struck Down!!! Sen. Scott Fitzgerald Wrong About Legality of Passing Collective Bargaining Law! Big Surprise!

Hot head Sen. Scott Fitzgerald's insistence the judicial branch had no business interpreting the legality of the legislative branch, came across as dumb and hyperbolic. Today he looks even dumber and even more unqualified to be a "lawmaker," after Judge Sumi struck down the rushed through, jammed down our throats collective bargaining law.

This is a lawless Republican legislature:

jsonline: In a 33-page decision issued Thursday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi said she would freeze the legislation because GOP lawmakers on a committee broke the state's open meetings law in passing it March 9.

"This decision explains why it is necessary to void the legislative actions flowing from those violations," wrote Sumi, who was appointed to the bench by former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson. But the issue is far from settled. The state Supreme Court has scheduled arguments for next month on whether to take over the case.

GOP lawmakers also have said they would consider passing the law a second time as part of the 2011-'13 state budget if it was necessary to ensure that it takes effect.

From WISC 3 News:



Here's more, including Judge Sumi's reasons for striking down the law, from TMJ4:

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that Republican legislators violated Wisconsin's open meetings law by calling the meeting without a 24-hour notice. She said that renders the law void. She had put the law on hold while she considered the case.

Using the same language basically as those who demanded passage of the voter ID law:

Sumi said violating the open-meetings law betrays the public's trust.

"The court must consider the potential damage to public trust and confidence in government if the Legislature is not held to the same rules of transparency that it has created for other governmental bodies," she wrote in a 33-page decision. "Our form of government depends on citizens' trust and confidence in the process by which our elected officials make laws, at all levels of government."

The judge's ruling is a victory, said Marty Beil, executive director of the state's largest public employee union. "It tells legislators `You can't be arrogant,"' Beil said. "You have to do it in the light of day. You can't take stuff away from people in a backroom deal."

See Judge Sumi's ruling here.