The Wisdom of Dane County Judges

Eventually they'll run out of Dane County circuit court judges. But for now, the Wile E. Coyotes have struck again:

A county judge in Wisconsin on Friday struck down much of the 2011 state law pushed through by Gov. Scott Walker that severely restricts the ability of public employees to bargain collectively.

Judge Juan B. Colás of Dane County Circuit Court overturned the law with regard to city, county and school district workers — although not state employees — ruling that it violated the federal and state Constitutions.

Judge Colás said the Republican-backed measure, which led to huge union protests, violated union members’ freedom of speech and association as well as the equal protection of the laws by subjecting them to penalties not faced by nonunion public employees.

So what happens now? A few guesses:

• The decision rips open all the old wounds again.
• It probably will help Tommy Thompson and Mitt Romney, because people in Wisconsin are just tired of all this and want it to stop. So the people who won't take no for an answer will get slapped down again.
• It will also affect the upcoming legislative elections, to the detriment of Democrats. Because of redistricting, the Wisconsin Senate is likely to switch back to Republican control.

Meanwhile, this little tidbit from 2011 is worth considering as background on the Honorable Juan B. Colás:

Yesterday, a judge ruled that the state had improperly closed the Capitol and ordered it opened, but did rule that there could be date and time limits on the protests. (The decision was delayed because the first judge, the Honorable Juan Colas, assigned the case had to recuse himself because his own daughter was sleeping in the Wisconsin State Capitol.)

Justice isn't blind -- it sees what it wants to see, apparently.