Wisconsin's Judicial Recall

September 27, 2012

Wall Street Journal

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's recall victory in June was a stinging defeat for organized labor. But just when Wisconsinites thought they were getting past this fight, the left is staging a last gasp coup in the courts.

On Monday, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard oral arguments in a federal case challenging the law's limits on collective bargaining for government unions. In March, U.S. District Judge William Conley upheld most of the new law but ruled that its requirements that union members vote annually to retain the union as their representative and end the automatic deduction of union dues from employee paychecks were unconstitutional.

In a separate case earlier this month, Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled the entire law unconstitutional in Madison Teachers, Inc. v. Scott Walker. According to Judge Colas's novel reasoning, the reform of government unions violates the First Amendment and equal protection rights of public employees because it bans collective bargaining for benefits and eliminates automatic payroll deductions for union dues. By doing so, the judge says, the law treats people who are in unions differently than people who are not in unions and threatens their First Amendment rights of free speech and association.

This logic is really something. If Judge Colas is correct, every right-to-work law in the country would be illegal. But last we checked, there was no constitutional right to collective bargaining. Mr. Walker's union reforms don't prevent people from associating with any group they choose. And they don't stop anyone's free speech, judging by the Athens-via-Madison protests that greeted the law.

Unions are trying these moonshot legal theories because they are desperate to maintain political clout through mandatory measures like automatic dues deduction. Since Mr. Walker's law went into effect, more than a third of the American Federation of Teachers and more than half of the members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in the state have left the unions.

That follows the pattern in right-to-work states, where unions lose political power when they must persuade workers to voluntarily contribute union dues.

In Wisconsin's Dane County, municipal unions are now engaged in a mad dash to push new contracts before the ruling can be stayed or overturned. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has asked the state appeals court to take up the case, and Judge Colas's oddball opinion is unlikely to convince the higher court or the state Supreme Court where it will likely end up.

The case also provides a stalking horse for the fight over the future of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Liberals tried and failed last year to defeat conservative Justice David Prosser in the closely divided court. But in April they'll get another chance to lock in a four-liberal majority when conservative Justice Pat Roggensack is up for electoral retention.

The left has lost every electoral attempt to roll back Mr. Walker's reforms, which have saved taxpayers a bundle and prevented teacher layoffs throughout the state. What an offense against democracy it would be if the clear will of Wisconsin's people were overturned by partisan liberal judges.

<- Go Back