No cakewalk for Walker's union busting bill

Here's a bright spot in the dismal mess Gov. Walker created in Wisconsin. The rollout of his union busting bill is delayed.

Madison -- Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order Friday, barring the publication of a controversial new law that would sharply curtail collective bargaining for public employees.

Sumi’s order will prevent Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law until she can rule on the merits of the case. Dane County Ismael Ozanne is seeking to block the law because he says a legislative committee violated the state’s open meetings law.

Sumi said Ozanne was likely to succeed on the merits.

To be clear, Judge Sumi is not judging the merits of the law itself, but only the violation of the open meeting law. Still, the publishing delay is a victory for the pro-worker side.

Walker's puppet legislature will most probably win in the end. It seems unlikely the law itself will be quashed permanently, though one might hope the recall efforts could put the fear of the electorate into the GOPers. But either way, it is good to see liberals fighting back and not backing down, not matter what the odds.