"Our system of justice rests upon two
pillars: equal treatment and independent judgment. Every person who
appears before our state courts expects to be treated equally to every
other litigant. In addition, all parties to a lawsuit expect to have
their cases heard by judges who are free to exercise their own
independent judgment. Recently, the state Legislature and Gov.
Scott Walker approved legislation — a $3 billion package luring Foxconn
Technology Group to build a flat-screen TV factory in Racine County —
that seriously undermines these two fundamental principles.
"The
principle of equal treatment commands that the same rules should apply
to all parties appearing before the court. No one should receive
special status. It is true that the two sides in a case might not be
evenly matched, and that one might have more financial resources or a
more skilled legal team. But, even then, both parties in the case
should be subject to the same set of laws and procedures and have the
same opportunity to argue that the law supports their claim.
"The Foxconn legislation creates special treatment for Foxconn
whenever the corporation is sued in Wisconsin courts. The law forces
the Wisconsin Supreme Court to directly take appeals involving 'Electronics and Information Technology Manufacturing Zones' (EITM) from
the circuit courts. By law there is only one such zone, and that zone
is soon to be home to Foxconn. Typically, the high court would hear
appeals at its discretion, and then only after the case was heard by an
intermediate court.
"The reason for placing cases
involving Foxconn on a 'fast-track' to the Wisconsin Supreme Court
should be obvious. That Court has a majority of Justices who were
elected with the financial support of Wisconsin’s largest trade and
manufacturing lobbyists. The drafters of the legislation expect these
justices to be sympathetic to the concerns of manufacturers such
as Foxconn."
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