Fed judge dismisses lawsuit over lame-duck laws limiting power of Wis. governor
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A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by Democrats over Wisconsin’s lame-duck laws limiting the powers of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul. The legislation was passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in December while Republican Scott Walker was the governor of Wisconsin.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that U.S. District Judge James Peterson ruled Monday Democrats had to make their case in state court, not federal court.
“There are many reasons to criticize the lame-duck laws,” the court decision reads. "But the role of a federal court is not to second-guess the wisdom of state legislation, or to decide how the state should allocate the power among the branches of its government.”
The ruling was the latest court defeat for Democrats and their allies, the Sentinel reports. In June, Wisconsin's conservative-controlled Supreme Court upheld the lame-duck laws, handing Republican lawmakers a resounding victory.
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Majority Republicans passed the legislation in December after Evers and Kaul defeated Republican incumbents in the November midterm election.
The laws prohibit Evers from ordering Kaul to withdraw from lawsuits, a move designed to prevent Evers from fulfilling a campaign pledge to withdraw Wisconsin from a multistate lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
The laws also require Kaul to get permission from the Legislature's Republican-controlled finance committee before settling lawsuits, and force him to deposit settlement awards in the state general fund rather than in state Department of Justice accounts. The provisions also guarantee Republican lawmakers the right to intervene in lawsuits using their own attorneys rather than Kaul's DOJ lawyers.
All three provisions signal Republicans don't trust Kaul to defend GOP-authored laws in court.
