Wisconsin Supreme Court denies intervention in domestic partner suit
The First Freedoms Foundation has issued this press release discussing today’s ruling by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in Helgeland v. Wisconsin Municipalities, No. 2005AP002540 (Wisc. Feb. 7, 2008). The press release begins:
The Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a decision today denying the right of 8 Wisconsin municipalities and school boards to intervene in a lawsuit brought by 6 state employees and their same-sex partners. The suit claims that under the Wisconsin constitution, the partners should receive health care benefits under Department of Employee Trust Fund benefit plans because the partners are “similarly situated” to the “spouses” of state employees who receive benefits under those plans.
Scott Bauer reporting in the Chippewa Herald, Municipalities barred from joining lawsuit over gay rights writes:
Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, writing for the majority, accused the three justices in the minority of stirring "the cauldron of hot-button issues" with a dissent addressing abortion and the influence of the American Civil Liberties Union in addition to gay rights . . .
In Thursday’s 91-page ruling, the justices went far-afield from the underlying issue.
In the dissent, Justice David Prosser questioned the legitimacy of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion. In response, Abrahamson accused Prosser and the two other justices in the minority _ Annette Ziegler and Pat Roggensack _ of turning to "political considerations and appeals to emotions." . . .
One Comment
Funny how the left-wing activist judges in the majority on this court decide that these munincipalities can not join the lawsuit because they believe it would lead to huge outside organizations with deep pockets wanting to join all sorts of lawsuits, yet these same radical judges have no problem with the ACLU, the A C L U, joining in the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintifs!
Wisconsin - you must V O T E these activist judges off the bench at every opportunity before these same activist judges one day rule that your vote shouldn’t count!