Mar
22
Celebrating March 22, 1877: Women First Allowed Bar Admission in Wisconsin
Posted by: Lisa A. Mazzie | March 22, 2012 | 5 Comments
On March 22, 1877, the Wisconsin legislature passed a bill that prohibited denying a person admission to the state bar on the basis of sex. The bill was in no small part due to the efforts of Lavinia Goodell, the first woman admitted to the state bar in Wisconsin. Goodell was born in New York [...]
Mar
7
United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Unlikely to Be the Court’s Most Senior Member
Posted by: J. Gordon Hylton | March 7, 2012 | 4 Comments
Wisconsin, like a number of states, designates the senior member of its state supreme court in terms of service as the Chief Justice. The United States Supreme Court, in contrast, uses a system in which the President of the United States chooses a new Chief Justice every time the existing Chief dies or steps down. [...]
Feb
23
Does the Legislature Lack the Power to Revise the Redistricting Law?
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | February 23, 2012 | 3 Comments
Republican lawmakers have asserted that they have no power to re-draw the election maps at issue in the ongoing Baldus v. Brennan litigation in federal court, despite a suggestion from the three judge panel hearing the case that the legislature make revisions to the law. The 1954 Wisconsin Supreme Court opinion that these lawmakers cite [...]
Sep
19
Bipartisanship? Cooperation? Will These Ideas Fly?
Posted by: Alan J. Borsuk | September 19, 2011 | 2 Comments
Republican State Sen. Dale Schultz of Richland Center and Democratic State Sen. Timothy Cullen of Janesville did two things a few months ago that were quite remarkable in the light of the super-charged, partisan atmosphere in Madison (and elsewhere) this year. For one, they had lunch together. And for another, they decided to spend a [...]
Jul
15
Separation of Powers and the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | July 15, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Yesterday, I participated in a panel discussion hosted by the Madison Chapter of the Federalist Society, entitled “Separation of Powers: Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Decision Upholding the Collective Bargaining Law.” The discussion was moderated by Justice Jon Wilcox of the Wisconsin Supreme Court (Retired) and along with myself the panel included Deputy Attorney General Kevin St. [...]
Jun
25
Ozanne v. Fitzgerald: Haste Makes Waste
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | June 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment
On June 23, I participated in a discussion concerning the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Ozanne v. Fitzgerald, 2011 WI 43, on the Wisconsin Eye public affairs show “Legally Speaking.” Rick Esenberg and I continued our ongoing difference of opinion regarding this litigation, which seems to generate an endless supply of novel and contentious legal [...]
Jun
19
Unoriginal Thoughts on Appellate Procedure
Posted by: Daniel Suhr | June 19, 2011 | 6 Comments
Earlier this week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its decision in State ex rel. Ozanne v. Fitzgerald and State ex rel. Huebsch v. Circuit Court for Dane County. The decision has rightly generated a good bit of commentary about open government, separation of powers, etc. My goal here is to clarify a very limited but [...]
Jun
8
The Constitutionality of the Open Meetings Law
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | June 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment
During oral argument this past Monday in Ozanne v. Fitzgerald, the Wisconsin Supreme Court was asked to rule that the Open Meetings Law violates the Wisconsin Constitution to the extent that the law grants authority to the Wisconsin circuit courts to void legislative enactments passed in violation of its provisions. This is not a novel argument. [...]
May
31
Another View on the Merits of Judge Sumi’s Decision
Posted by: Richard M. Esenberg | May 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment
It should come as no surprise that Professor Fallone and I disagree on Judge Sumi’s decision in Ozanne v. Fitzgerald. I particularly take issue with his suggestion that criticism of the decision is the product of “sloppy lawyering.” In my view, that characterization is unfair and inaccurate. Nor is the legal – as opposed to [...]
May
27
Judge Sumi Does Her Job
Posted by: Edward A. Fallone | May 27, 2011 | 4 Comments
Judge Maryann Sumi issued the long anticipated opinion in Ozanne v. Fitzgerald yesterday, holding: 1) that the circuit courts have jurisdiction to hear cases alleging that a particular piece of legislation was not constitutionally enacted; 2) that the court’s jurisdiction includes challenges alleging noncompliance with Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law; and that 3) the failure of the March 9, [...]
May
20
SCOWIS Approves LWOP for 14-Year-Old Killers
Posted by: Michael M. O'Hear | May 20, 2011 | 3 Comments
Today, in State v. Ninham, 2011 WI 33, the Wisconsin Supreme Court approved the sentence of life without possibility of parole for fourteen-year-olds who are convicted of first-degree intentional homicide. The decision rests on a narrow reading of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark holding last year in Graham v. Florida, in which the Court outlawed LWOP for [...]
Apr
11
SCOTUS to Consider Scope of Ministerial Exception
Posted by: Daniel Suhr | April 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment
When the Wisconsin Supreme Court decided Coulee Catholic Schools v. LIRC, 2009 WI 88 , Professor Esenberg and I both took to this blog to praise Justice Gableman’s majority decision. The decision is undoubtedly the most important religious liberty case in Wisconsin since Jackson v. Benson (1998) and State v. Miller (1996). It concerned the [...]
Blog Editors
- Alan Borsuk
- Bruce E. Boyden
- Edward A. Fallone
- Melissa L. Greipp
- Scott C. Idleman
- Lisa Mazzie
- Michael M. O'Hear
- Ryan Scoville
