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HIGHLAND MEMORIAL V. WISCONSIN

Wisconsin prohibits cemetery owners from owning or operating a funeral home and vice versa. They can’t even have a funeral home operated by somebody else on their cemetery grounds! We think the government has no legitimate interest in limiting people’s choices this way, and we filed a lawsuit challenging the law, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court disagreed.

HOEKSTRA V. CITY OF BAYFIELD

Seeking to protect the local bed & breakfast owners, Bayfield passed an ordinance requiring anybody who wanted to run a B&B during the summer months to live in the city at least six months each year. We filed a federal lawsuit because this discriminated against owners who lived (most of the time) in other states. To settle the lawsuit, Bayfield amended its ordinance.

VOTERS WITH FACTS V. CITY OF EAU CLAIRE (TID 8 & 10)

Cities around the state use TIF districts as a way to give taxpayer funds to developers while claiming that the money is “free”. State law requires cities to follow very strict procedures in order to create TIF districts. When Eau Claire failed to follow those procedures, we sued to hold them accountable.

INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MACHINISTS V. ALLEN

Wisconsin’s Right to Work law allowed employees to opt out of paying union dues on 30-days’ notice. Unions sued, arguing that violated a federal law saying that union dues can be locked in “up to one year”. We filed amicus briefs supporting the law.

KRIST OIL V. WISCONSIN

The State of Wisconsin thinks consumers need to be protected from low prices, and has passed a law prohibiting retailers from setting prices too low. It also requires some products to be sold at a substantial markup – a hidden tax on consumers that goes straight into the pockets of business owners. We sued to get rid of that law.

INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS V. SCHIMEL

Unions filed a lawsuit in federal court arguing that Wisconsin’s “Right to Work” law was an unlawful “taking” of their property right to non-members’ fees. We filed amicus briefs successfully arguing in support of Right to Work.

SMITH V. WISCONSIN

Wisconsin prohibits the sale of butter that has not met the approval of government taste testers, effectively banning imports such as the popular Kerrygold butter from Ireland. On behalf of consumers and a retailer, we challenged the law, which furthers no health or safety purpose.

OPERATING ENGINEERS V. EVERS

Unions filed another Act 10 lawsuit in 2019, arguing that the law was unconstitutional because unions have a constitutional right to collectively bargain. We intervened on behalf of a teacher who objects to being forced to pay union dues to defend the law.