After listening to testimony from several witnesses Friday, Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi decided to keep the temporary restraining order on the budget repair law.
The day before the hearing Sumi ruled the law was never officially published, despite claims from the Walker administration and Republicans that it was.
State Senate Chief Clerk Robert Marchant testified on the details of how he, Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and other legislature staffers decided to hold the meeting of the Joint Committee on Conference and Senate floor session in which the budget repair law was passed without the 24-hour notice as required by the state's Open Meetings Laws.
Marchant said he was never given a reason as to why the committee meeting could not be held the next day, and that scheduling meetings without 24-hour notice has been done by the legislature ""in custom usage and precedence.""
However, Marchant said it is unclear whether they abided by the 2-hour minimum notice even with the exception of a ""good cause.""
""At that time I believed there was two hours notice given,"" Marchant said. ""There wasn't, from the sound of it, or at least it's not possible to say with 100 percent that two hours notice was given.""
The lawmakers involved are covered by legislative immunity, and therefore do not have to participate in the case while the legislature is in session. Because of this, the defense requested Sumi not make any judgments until they can appear before the court.
""They are entitled to their day in court, but that doesn't mean they're also entitle to have the restraining order vacated until they no longer can assert immunity,"" Sumi said.
Fitzgerald, who is named in the case, said in a statement he is still trying to figure out what the ruling means ""and how one Dane County judge could single?handedly stand in the way of the Legislative and Executive Branches.""
