Agreement in Union Lawsuit Forces Reopening of State Capitol

June 16, 2011
Contact: Peg Lautenschlager
920-602-6194

The administration of Gov. Scott Walker will be forced to reopen all eight entrances to the state Capitol -- without metal detectors or security guards grilling citizens on the purpose of their visit -- as the result of a lawsuit brought by the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFSCME Council 24, and six individuals.

The entrances will reopen on Monday, June 27, based on an agreement filed today by Judge Gordon Myse, who was appointed to mediate the dispute by Judge John Albert. Myse has agreed to continue to monitor DOA’s compliance with the agreement.

The union joined citizens in suing the state after the Walker administration severely limited citizen access to the Capitol following waves of large, peaceful protests against Walker’s plan to strip most bargaining rights from most public service employees.

“This is a great victory that gives the people’s house back to the people,” said Marty Beil, executive director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union.

“We believe locking down the capitol in the face of peaceful protest was wrong and ignored Wisconsin’s long tradition of open government. That’s why we went to court and that’s why we are pleased the court has provided an avenue to resolve the issue,” Beil said.

Under terms of the agreement, the Department of Administration will open all eight ground floor Capitol entrances on June 27. The DOA will remove all metal detectors from ground floor entrances by that date and will never again queue people entering the capitol based on the purpose of their visit.

The agreement also states that the ground and first floor rotunda will be open for public access and there will be no further attempts to prohibit the display of signs in that area of the rotunda.

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Click "here" to view the final court stipulation.