The law may still be considered by the state Supreme Court. Wisconsin union law voided

A Wisconsin circuit court judge on Thursday struck down the state’s controversial law restricting collective bargaining for most unions representing the state’s public workers.

The legislation was a major priority of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, with deliberations over it prompting protests at the state capitol in the spring.


Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled that Republican legislators had violated the state’s open meetings law during the process that led to the bill’s final passage. Republicans in the state senate passed the bill less than two hours after calling a meeting for the vote – before Democrats, who had traveled across state lines to block a vote, were able to return. State law requires at least two hours’ notice.

The ruling is by no means the end of the line for the law, which may be considered by the state Supreme Court.

“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,” wrote Sumi, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson. “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.”

“This decision explains why it is necessary to void the legislative actions flowing from those violations,” Sumi wrote.

The state Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on whether to consider the case.

On Monday, a state elections board announced that conservative justice David Prosser had retained a 7,004-vote lead over liberal challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg in a recount following the early April election, which has been framed by some on both sides as a referendum on Walker’s union law. Kloppenburg has until the end of the month to decide whether to file suit challenging the result.