Little-noticed footnotes have popped up in recent weeks to the gutting of public employee union rights and the subsequent protests.
Gov. Scott Walker has built his White House bid on the anti-union move and how it was handled. Walker says it proves he would be respected by foreign leaders because of the way he handled the process.
Despite a conservative majority on the State Supreme Court, the Walker team has decided not to challenge a state Appeals Court ruling that the tickets given to those who sang labor songs during the State Capitol protests were unconstitutional.
A three-judge appeals panel said that an emergency rule created by the Walker administration was an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights. More than 350 persons received tickets for participating or watching the Solidarity Sing-Alongs.
Last year, the Department of Justice sidestepped reporters' questions about the legal costs involved in pursuing prosecution of the tickets. It suggested there was no cost because the attorneys involved were already on the state payroll.
Atty. Robert Jambois, who has represented some of the singers, said the state had been wasting the valuable time of talented DOJ lawyers chasing civil citations, diverting time from complex important cases.
Perhaps the state thinks their lawyers are not a cost item, but the lawyers who represented the singers likely will ask state payment for their time.
On the stump, Walker has repeatedly mentioned the threats to his family during the demonstrations. One of the incidents, also described in his campaign book, was a threat to gut his wife "like a deer."
But when the Wisconsin State Journal asked for records of "gut her like a deer" threat, the Department of Administration was unable to locate any. A spokesman said now Capitol State Police Chief David Erwin could not remember any record of that threat being created.
Walker's book, "Unintimidated - A Governor's Story and a Nation's Challenge," is largely a description of what occurred in the protests and has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats.
"The governor misrepresented the nature of the protest against his union-busting policies," said State Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison. "As a result, some people believe there were violent mobs of thugs rioting in the streets of Madison.
"He didn't deal with or handle anything regarding the tens of thousands of people who came to the Capitol to exercises their constitutional rights of assembly and peacefully protest bad public policy," she said. "He refused to meet with them or deal with the Democratic leadership in the Assembly. Instead he hid from them, entering and leaving the Capitol by a tunnel to an office building on the Square."
A clearer picture of the anti-union legislation and the protests is included in a book, "More Than They Bargained For," by Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, two reporters for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It includes historical material on Walker, including his 2.59 grade point average at Marquette University. Walker left college without a degree.
The book describes Walker's ties to the conservative Bradley Foundation, which promotes limited government, unfettered markets and national defense. The foundation has championed private voucher schools in Milwaukee, unregulated campaign finance rules and promoting "right-to-work" laws, Stein and Marley note.
Walker signed a right-to-work law in early March.
- Matt Pommer, a 35-year vete
ran of covering state government in Madison, writes the weekly State Capitol Newsletter for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. His column is published Monday in the Times.
Gov. Scott Walker has built his White House bid on the anti-union move and how it was handled. Walker says it proves he would be respected by foreign leaders because of the way he handled the process.
Despite a conservative majority on the State Supreme Court, the Walker team has decided not to challenge a state Appeals Court ruling that the tickets given to those who sang labor songs during the State Capitol protests were unconstitutional.
A three-judge appeals panel said that an emergency rule created by the Walker administration was an unconstitutional violation of free speech rights. More than 350 persons received tickets for participating or watching the Solidarity Sing-Alongs.
Last year, the Department of Justice sidestepped reporters' questions about the legal costs involved in pursuing prosecution of the tickets. It suggested there was no cost because the attorneys involved were already on the state payroll.
Atty. Robert Jambois, who has represented some of the singers, said the state had been wasting the valuable time of talented DOJ lawyers chasing civil citations, diverting time from complex important cases.
Perhaps the state thinks their lawyers are not a cost item, but the lawyers who represented the singers likely will ask state payment for their time.
On the stump, Walker has repeatedly mentioned the threats to his family during the demonstrations. One of the incidents, also described in his campaign book, was a threat to gut his wife "like a deer."
But when the Wisconsin State Journal asked for records of "gut her like a deer" threat, the Department of Administration was unable to locate any. A spokesman said now Capitol State Police Chief David Erwin could not remember any record of that threat being created.
Walker's book, "Unintimidated - A Governor's Story and a Nation's Challenge," is largely a description of what occurred in the protests and has drawn sharp criticism from Democrats.
"The governor misrepresented the nature of the protest against his union-busting policies," said State Rep. Terese Berceau, D-Madison. "As a result, some people believe there were violent mobs of thugs rioting in the streets of Madison.
"He didn't deal with or handle anything regarding the tens of thousands of people who came to the Capitol to exercises their constitutional rights of assembly and peacefully protest bad public policy," she said. "He refused to meet with them or deal with the Democratic leadership in the Assembly. Instead he hid from them, entering and leaving the Capitol by a tunnel to an office building on the Square."
A clearer picture of the anti-union legislation and the protests is included in a book, "More Than They Bargained For," by Jason Stein and Patrick Marley, two reporters for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. It includes historical material on Walker, including his 2.59 grade point average at Marquette University. Walker left college without a degree.
The book describes Walker's ties to the conservative Bradley Foundation, which promotes limited government, unfettered markets and national defense. The foundation has championed private voucher schools in Milwaukee, unregulated campaign finance rules and promoting "right-to-work" laws, Stein and Marley note.
Walker signed a right-to-work law in early March.
- Matt Pommer, a 35-year vete
ran of covering state government in Madison, writes the weekly State Capitol Newsletter for the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. His column is published Monday in the Times.
