Today the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had set aside controversial restrictions on public employees’ collective bargaining rights. Four justices signed on to the brief order accepting the case and overturning the order. Three justices concurred-in-part and dissented-in-part. From the Journal-Sentinel:
The court found a committee of lawmakers was not subject to the state’s open meetings law, and so did not violate that law when they hastily approved the measure and made it possible for the Senate to take it up. In doing so, the Supreme Court overruled a Dane County judge who had struck down the legislation, ending one challenge to the law even as new challenges are likely to emerge. . . .
In its decision, the state’s high court concluded that “choices about what laws represent wise public policy for the state of Wisconsin are not within the constitutional purview of the courts.”
The court added that its role 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.”