The public employee unions lose a big one, as the high court upholds the law passed by the Republican-led legislature and signed by Governor Scott Walker. Recall that this is the law that led to 14 Democrat state senators fleeing the state, and to raucous, often vulgar and destructive demonstrations in the state capitol in Madison.

Amy Merrick of the Wall Street Journal reports:

Tuesday's opinion, joined by three of the Supreme Court's seven justices, said the circuit-court judge, Maryann Sumi, exceeded her authority. The justices wrote, "One of the courts that we are charged with supervising has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin Constitution grants exclusively to the legislature."

Justice David Prosser, who narrowly survived a re-election battle in April that became a referendum on the collective-bargaining law and Mr. Walker's policies, issued a separate concurring opinion.

The court's remaining three justices concurred in part and dissented in part. Although the justices are chosen in nonpartisan elections, the court is generally considered to be split 4-3 in favor of conservatives.

 Fox News reports:

he Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state's contentious union rights law can go into effect, giving Republican Gov. Scott Walker a major victory.

Walker pushed the law that eliminates most of public employees' collective bargaining rights and forces them to pay more for their health and pension benefits. He says it's needed for the state to address its budget problems.

Legal Insurrection's Professor Jacobson calls it a "sweeping victory."

The Court adopted the argument I had made here many times, that the Courts had no business questioning the legislatures interpretation of its own rules (snip)

This also is a vindication for the legal strategy of not backing down to the unjust, unwise, uncalled-for, unlawful rulings of Judge Sumi, who engaged in clearly unsound legal reasoning which -- whether intended or not -- took on the appearance of political