Our Craven Overlords
By Mitch Berg
Liberal Wisconsin judge hijacks the rule of law, and then tells lawyers not to criticize her for it:
Before wrapping up a brief hearing Wednesday, Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi offered a word of caution to attorneys involved in high-profile lawsuits over collective bargaining in Wisconsin.
Sumi said emotions are running high over two cases she is hearing regarding Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to eliminate most collective bargaining for public workers. That “spirited debate” is important in a democracy, but attorneys must keep in mind their professional ethics, Sumi said.
“They all have a responsibility to promote and not denigrate the judicial branch and, more importantly, the rule of law,” she said.
This is like Rep. John Lesch saying Republicans are “crapping on the flag” for criticizing him.
“Judge” Sumi: you, and especially your decision, are not “the judicial branch and the rule of law!”
She advised lawyers to review state Supreme Court rules that say: “A lawyer shall not make a statement that the lawyer knows to be false or with reckless disregard as to its truth or falsity concerning the qualifications or integrity of a judge….”
She referred to public comments made by attorneys after a Tuesday hearing, but did not elaborate.
It’s the “when did you stop beating your wife” defense.
March 31st, 2011 at 7:56 am
“Don’t lie about me. Don’t even tell the truth about me. If you do, I’ll interpret that as a lie and cite you. You cannot abuse your Constitutional privileges.”
Only the court can.
March 31st, 2011 at 8:02 am
The amount of sheer thuggery on display in my beloved home state is just staggering.
March 31st, 2011 at 8:11 am
D: That explains soooo much. Here’s what I ask everyone who is a Wisc native: which bar did you manage?
March 31st, 2011 at 8:18 am
D: That explains soooo much.
About what, pray tell?
Here’s what I ask everyone who is a Wisc native: which bar did you manage?
One that enforced hygiene standards.
March 31st, 2011 at 10:06 am
This lady is like Kagen or Ruth Ginsberg on steriods. Screw the law, I have some legislating-from-the-bench to do.
If I understand the orginal ruling right……the Madison left was saying the law was illegeal due to not enough notice given of the meeting. Republicans correctly pointed out that they obeyed the law, and then showed the law and how they obeyed it.
So what does Sue-me due? Doesn’t really site any law, just says the bill was not right, so she invalidated it.
Welcome to liberal fascism.
March 31st, 2011 at 10:09 am
And with Tuesday’s Wisc Supreme Court election (for a 10 year term), what the gov’t employees are trying to do is that if you can’t get the law on your side, then get a judge to create laws from the bench.
If anyone here is in Wisc or knows people there, make sure to have them vote for Prosser on Tuesday.
March 31st, 2011 at 10:55 am
This is leftist thuggery writ large. People will see it for what it is, namely the public employees (which the judge is) holding a gun to the heads of the people. It is tyranny, and the abrogation of the will of the people as expressed by their duly elected representatives.
Wars have been fought over less than this.
March 31st, 2011 at 11:15 am
“She referred to public comments made by attorneys after a Tuesday hearing, but did not elaborate.”
I think she’s sensitive to the fact that she’s very adept at carrying the water for the special people. She doesn’t want the word to get out.
March 31st, 2011 at 11:19 am
Kermit Says: “Wars have been fought over less than this.”
Here’s to hopin this judge finds out next election cycle!
March 31st, 2011 at 11:42 am
Here’s to hopin this judge finds out next election cycle!
Sumi, like Prosser, is up on Tuesday. But she’s running unopposed. This is unsurprising because divine right monarchs rarely have declared opposition.
March 31st, 2011 at 12:06 pm
Maybe they can find a last minute write in candidate, certainly it’s a long very long shot but it worked for Murkowski.
March 31st, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Never underestimate the stupidity of the electorate. Barack Obama and Mark Dayton come to mind instantly.
March 31st, 2011 at 1:34 pm
“Never underestimate the stupidity of the electorate. Barack Obama and Mark Dayton come to mind instantly.”
Jesse Ventura, Keith Ellison, Senator Diapers-n-coke…….
I’m still trying to figure out how a county judge can make decisions for a whole state, or what is going on in her mind that she thinks she can. Can the legislature remove her for being completely clueless about the law?
March 31st, 2011 at 3:20 pm
While we’ve all been going about our lives, these people have been dismantling freedom and planting hacks like Judge Sumi. Now we’re waking up to the fact that public employee unions are bankrupting a number of state. The dues they collect are used to elect Democrats who in turn support the union agenda.
Americans have ceased paying attention and will wake up wrapped up like flies in a spider’s web.
March 31st, 2011 at 3:48 pm
Not all Americans are asleep, and many of us are paying attention. There will be a price to pay for this tyranny, and it will be steep. You feelin’ me Dog Gone?
March 31st, 2011 at 6:16 pm
Everyone knows that Judge Sumi got the law wrong. I focused this post on what few have talked about: the fact that the unions’ lawyers were sloppy in their due diligence. Had they done a little more digging, they would’ve known that the Secretary of State wasn’t the only office to publish laws. They would’ve noticed that the Legislative Reference Bureau is obligated to publish laws, too.
April 1st, 2011 at 4:50 am
Gary, it doesn’t matter whether Sumi got the law wrong. She’s not about law, she’s about results. That’s why the third TRO is the charm. Laws are for Republicans.