How leftist judges can thwart reform

OPINION:

An activist judge in Wisconsin gave big government special interests an early Christmas present with a ruling this week on the reforms known as Act 10. The liberal judge’s action should be a warning to Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy and those working to make the federal government more effective, efficient and accountable to the people.

Liberals will turn to the judiciary to try to stop our efforts. We cannot let them prevail.

On Tuesday, Dane County Circuit Judge Jacob Frost ruled Act 10 unconstitutional. Over the years, the law has been upheld by several state and federal courts, including the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

What changed? Political power.

This year, an activist judge was elected to the high court in my state. She became the fourth vote in a new liberal majority. Justice Janet Protasiewicz ran an unconditional campaign that appealed to liberal voters by openly stating her views on matters pending before the court. Unprecedented amounts of money flowed into the state on behalf of her campaign. She won. 

Soon after her election, liberal interests filed a case challenging Act 10 in the state’s most liberal county. Leaders in the Wisconsin Legislature have already expressed their intention to appeal the decision. Still, the outcome is uncertain as the case will ultimately end up in front of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

This makes the April 2025 election to fill the soon-to-be vacant seat of retiring Justice Ann Walsh Bradley critical to the future of Wisconsin and America.

Thankfully, Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel is running. He served as Wisconsin attorney general and is a strong law-and-order conservative. 

His likely opponent, Dane County Judge Susan Crawford, worked for Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle and represented Planned Parenthood. She would likely be the fourth liberal activist on the high court. If Judge Crawford wins, watch for big changes in Wisconsin that could have national implications.

For starters, Act 10 would be thrown out — despite the Wisconsin Supreme Court having previously upheld it as constitutional. That would set a horrible precedent for those seeking to streamline government.

According to several fact-checked media reports, our reforms saved over $16 billion. More importantly, they shifted power away from the big government union bosses to the hardworking taxpayers and the people they elect to run their schools and state and local governments.

Striking down Act 10 will do more than hurt taxpayers; it will hurt students and others who use government services. Resources will flow out of the classroom to pay for new demands from union bosses. Resources will flow away from government services to pay for new demands from union bosses. Resources will flow away from priorities such as fire and police protection to pay for new demands from union bosses.

Collective bargaining is not a right. It is an expensive entitlement.

We pulled back on that entitlement, and the liberal special interests have been fighting to get their power back ever since. For them, it is all about power.

This should warn everyone working on the proposed federal Department of Government Efficiency. In Wisconsin, we took the right steps. We introduced a budget repair bill that included our reforms, ultimately passed by majorities in the Legislature.

Big government union bosses and liberal special interests sent protesters to our state Capitol. The mob grew to 100,000 when 14 state Senate Democrats left the state to try to block a vote on the reforms. They tried to intimidate us, but we eventually prevailed when Act 10 was signed into law.

Winning wasn’t enough. They tried to block Act 10 with the election of a new justice to the state Supreme Court that April. Then-Justice David Prosser was elected to his position with no opposition. His campaign that year included bipartisan leadership, including that of a former Wisconsin governor from both parties. After the enactment of Act 10, national powers poured funds into the race to strip him of his position and overturn the law. Ultimately, Justice Prosser prevailed, but it was a glimpse at how far the left would go in its quest for power.

A new 4-3 liberal activist majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court likely means higher taxes, less funding in the classroom and fewer government services. It could also mean the end of school choice vouchers, voter ID requirements, truth-in-sentencing protections and keeping biological male athletes from competing with female ones.

These wins for the left would empower them to turn to the judiciary to thwart the reforms of a new Trump administration. We need to stop them in their tracks in Wisconsin.

• Scott Walker is president of Young America’s Foundation and served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin.