Ab Initio: Supreme Court Rules In Walker's Favor On Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill

"One of the courts that we are charged with supervising has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature.”

Quoted by Instapundit. Pungent and piquant.

Decision up. Full victory for Walker, I'm told.

More: Generally, when a higher court calls bullshit on a lower one, it's called a remand, a declaration that the lower court got it wrong, and to try again.

Commenters are telling me the court ruled here ab initio, which (context clues, it's been forever since I did anything law-oriented) means it's expunged from memory altogether as being improperly entertained from the start, which means there is no remand to the lower court to try again. The higher court has said "Not only did you get this wrong, you got it so wrong we don't trust you with another bite at the apple, so we're directing your decision from here. It's over. Done. Finished. Kaput."

And more. This judge, Sumi, attempted not to rule a law unconstitutional but a bill -- a not-quite-yet-a-law -- unconstitutional, as she ordered the law to be unpublished, that is, to remain a bill without going to the final step to make it a law.

The court finds that is preposterous:

"There is no such thing known to the law as an unconstitutional bill. A court cannot deal with the question of constitutionality until a law has been duly enacted and some person has been deprived of his constitutional rights by its operation."

Thanks to smart people in the thread.

This whole shebang was, transparently, lawless from the start, with a make-it-up-as-you-go agenda antithetical to the Rule of Law. I'm glad the Supreme Court took this opportunity to chastise and embarrass this socialist, totalitarian little scrunt.

posted by Ace at 06:05 PM

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