By Amelia Rivers | MADISON – 2025/06/17 15:33:17

The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the democratic state attorney general on Tuesday, settling a protracted dispute over a law passed by Republicans seeking to curtail the office’s authority during a lame-duck legislative session more than six years ago.

The court’s 7-0 decision declared unconstitutional the requirement that the attorney general obtain approval from a Republican-controlled legislative committee to settle specific civil lawsuits. The court stated that the law violated the separation of powers principle.

the Republican-controlled Legislature convened the session in December 2018, after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul defeated Republican incumbents. The outgoing Republican gov. Scott Walker signed the laws that diminished the powers of both offices.

The central issue in the case was the attorney general’s authority to settle civil lawsuits related to environmental and consumer protection, as well as cases involving the governor’s office and the executive branch. The contested law mandated that the Legislature’s budget committee,controlled by Republicans,approve these settlements.

Previous Court Ruling

in 2020, the Wisconsin supreme Court, then under conservative control, upheld all the lame-duck laws, asserting they did not breach the separation of powers principle. However, the ruling allowed for future challenges regarding the laws’ submission.

“Assume for itself the power to execute a law it wrote.” – Wisconsin Supreme court Justice brian Hagedorn

kaul initiated a lawsuit that year, contending that requiring approval for lawsuit settlements infringed upon the separation of powers between the legislative and executive branches. The Legislature maintained its right to oversee lawsuit settlements and argued that the court’s previous ruling should stand.

In 2022, Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, who was elected to the state Supreme Court in April and will join the court in August, sided with Kaul, deeming the law unconstitutional. However, a state appeals court overturned her ruling in December, asserting that no separation of powers violation existed because both the executive and legislative branches share the powers in question.

The Supreme Court stated on Tuesday that the Legislature cannot “assume for itself the power to execute a law it wrote.”

Justice Brian Hagedorn wrote for the court that there is no constitutional justification for requiring the Legislature’s budget committee to sign off on court settlements at issue in the case.

Kaul and Republican legislative leaders who defended the law had no immediate comment Tuesday on the ruling.