Kristi Koschkee v. Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Kristi Koschkee v. Carolyn Stanford Taylor
Opinion of the Court
*556¶1 This is an original action brought by Kristi Koschkee et al., two licensed teachers and two school board *557members, against Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) Carolyn Stanford Taylor and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). The petitioners argue that the SPI and DPI must comply with the statutory requirement that, prior to drafting or promulgating an administrative rule, they must receive written approval from the governor.
¶2 We conclude that the gubernatorial approval requirement for rulemaking is constitutional as applied to the SPI and DPI, whether such approval authority is found in 2017 Wis. Act 57 or in previous provisions of ch. 227. Article X, Section 1 vests supervision of public instruction, an executive function, in the SPI. In contrast, when the SPI, through the DPI, promulgates rules, it is exercising legislative power that comes not from the constitution but from the legislature. Stated otherwise, the legislature delegates part of its constitutional power to legislate to the SPI, *558DPI, and many other agencies in the form of rulemaking power. That the SPI also *603has the executive constitutional function to supervise public instruction does not transform the SPI's legislatively delegated rulemaking power into a constitutional supervisory function. Therefore, it is of no constitutional concern that the governor is given equal or greater legislative authority than the SPI in rulemaking.
I. BACKGROUND
¶3 2011 Wis. Act 21 (Act 21) amended sections of Wis. Stat. ch. 227 (2009-10), the Wisconsin Administrative Procedure Act. Prior to the passage of Act 21, an agency
*559¶4 Act 21 altered this procedure. Act 21 required an agency first to submit its scope statement to the governor for approval; agencies were prohibited from submitting a scope statement to the LRB until the governor issued a written notice of approval. An agency could not "perform any activity in connection with the drafting of a proposed rule ... until the governor and the individual or body with policy-making powers over the subject matter of the proposed rule approve[d]."
¶5 We reviewed these gubernatorial approval requirements in Coyne v. Walker,
¶6 In 2017, the Wisconsin legislature passed the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, 2017 Wis. Act 57 (REINS Act). The REINS Act added the requirement that agencies submit scope statements to the Department of Administration (DOA), which determines whether the agency has authority to promulgate the rule. REINS Act, § 3. The DOA also makes a non-binding recommendation to the governor. REINS Act, § 3. The REINS Act required *560agencies to hold a preliminary public hearing and comment period on the scope statement at the request of a co-chairperson of the Joint *604Committee on Review of Administrative Rules (JCROR). REINS Act, § 5.
¶7 The REINS Act did not alter Act 21's requirement that an agency (1) submit a statement of scope to the governor for approval prior to drafting a proposed rule, and (2) submit a final draft of a rule to the governor for approval before submitting it to the legislature.
¶8 The petitioners conceded at oral argument that the SPI and DPI had submitted scope statements to the DOA and held preliminary public hearings and comment periods upon request. However, the petitioners assert that the REINS Act "variously amends and reenacts parts of a comprehensive statutory scheme" and that their challenge therefore encompasses the "full suite of requirements" of ch. 227.
*561II. DISCUSSION
A. Standard of Review
¶9 We are required to interpret Article X, Section 1 in order to decide the pending controversy. Interpretations of provisions of the Wisconsin Constitution present legal questions. Custodian of Records for the LTSB v. State,
B. Rulemaking Authority
¶10 The Wisconsin Constitution establishes three separate branches of government, *605with "no branch subordinate to the other, no branch to arrogate to itself control over the other except as is provided by the constitution, and no branch to exercise the power committed by the constitution to another." State ex rel. Friedrich v. Dane Cty. Cir. Ct.,
¶11 "Legislative power, as distinguished from executive power, is the authority to make laws, but not to enforce them." Schuette v. Van De Hey,
¶12 A "rule" is "a regulation, standard, statement of policy, or general order of general application that has the force of law and that is issued by an agency to implement, interpret, or make specific legislation *563enforced or administered by the agency or to govern the organization or procedure of the agency."
¶13 From time to time, the legislature has used its power to create administrative agencies, such as the Department of Health Services and the Department of Financial Institutions, and to delegate to agencies certain legislative powers. The legislature created DPI in 1967.
¶14 Agencies are considered part of the executive branch. Citizens Concerned for Cranes and Doves v. DNR,
¶15 The powers delegated to administrative agencies by the legislature include the power to promulgate rules within the boundaries of enabling statutes passed by the legislature. See
¶16 In
1. The right to retract any delegation of rulemaking authority.
2. The right to establish any aspect of general policy by legislation, notwithstanding any delegation of rule-making authority.
3. The right and responsibility to designate the method for rule promulgation, review and modification.
4. The right to delay or suspend the implementation of any rule or proposed rule while under review by the legislature.
§ 227.19 (1)(b)1.-4.
*565¶17 We have long recognized that "the delegation of the power to make rules and effectively administer a given policy is a necessary ingredient of an efficiently functioning government." Gilbert v. Med. Examining Bd.,
¶18 However, while the breadth of government legislation has resulted in some delegation of legislative power to agencies, such agencies remain subordinate to the legislature with regard to their rulemaking authority. Stated otherwise, agencies "ha[ve] no inherent constitutional authority to make rules, and, furthermore, [their] rule-making powers can be repealed by the legislature." Martinez v. DILHR,
¶19 In addition, the case before us does not present issues that should give rise to a dogmatic exposition on the merits, or lack thereof, of administrative agencies. Rather, we are asked to determine the extent to which the legislature can change a past delegation of rulemaking authority when the SPI's rulemaking is affected.
*566¶20 Legislative change and control of rulemaking are within the constitutional power of the legislature. Martinez,
¶21 After the enactment of Act 21, agencies must first submit scope statements to the governor for approval; agencies may not submit scope statements to the LRB, or begin drafting any proposed rule, "until the governor issues a written notice of approval of the statement."
C. SPI's Constitutional Authority
¶22 The constitutional genesis of the SPI is found in Article X, Section 1, which provides:
The supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a state superintendent and such other officers as the legislature shall direct; and their qualifications, powers, duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law. The state superintendent shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the state at the same time and in the same manner as members of the supreme court, and shall hold office for 4 years from the succeeding first Monday in July. The term of office, time and manner of electing or appointing all other officers of supervision of public instruction shall be fixed by law.
Wis. Const. art. X, § 1. Article X, Section 1 does not define the term "supervision."
¶23 When we interpret an undefined constitutional term we examine the common law as it existed at the time the constitutional provision was enacted, the constitutional debates that bore on the undefined term, the plain meaning of the term at the time the constitutional provision was adopted, and the earliest interpretation in laws passed shortly after adoption of the constitutional provision or our opinions that interpreted the provision. See Polk Cty. v. State Pub. Def.,
¶24 Our examination of the common law functions of the SPI at statehood provides no guidance, *568because an officer responsible for public education did not exist prior to 1848. Therefore, Article X, Section 1 did not "incorporate[ ] an ancient common law office, possessing defined powers and duties, into the constitution. Public instruction and its governance had no long-standing common law history at the time the Wisconsin Constitution was enacted." Fortney v. Sch. Dist. of West Salem,
¶25 However, an examination of the plain language of Article X, Section 1, the Constitutional Conventions of 1846 and 1848, and early cases and statutes addressing the SPI's supervisory authority demonstrates that supervision is an executive function. "Stated otherwise, the framers of the Constitution chose no specific duties for the [SPI] in regard to 'supervision of public instruction.' " Coyne,
¶26 Furthermore, the debates during *608the 1846
¶27 The debates during the Constitutional Convention of 1848, which led to the ratification of the Wisconsin Constitution, similarly demonstrate that supervision of public education is an executive function. All writers reportedly "had agreed that the office [of the SPI] should have nothing to do with the machinery of the school system, or the management of the funds. He might be a most improper person for that duty. His province was to put the system in operation." Journal of the Convention to Form a Constitution for the State of Wisconsin 324, Wisconsin Constitutional Convention (Tenney, Smith & Holt, printers, 1848). Delegates recognized that "[t]he duties of a superintendent were not of a fixed and well known kind, like those of political officers." Id. at 327. As previously mentioned, neither the office of the SPI nor a uniform system of public instruction existed in Wisconsin prior to 1848. For this reason, some argued that even the manner of choosing the SPI should be left to the *570legislature to decide. No part of the discussion, however, involved the suggestion that the SPI should have the power to make laws.
¶28 The dictionary definition of "superintend" at the time of the debates further suggests that the framers viewed the SPI as possessing executive, but not legislative, authority. Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language (new rev. ed. 1847-50) defined "superintend" as: "[t]o have or exercise the charge or oversight of; to oversee with the power of direction; to take care of with authority; as an officer superintends the building of a ship or construction of a fort." Similarly, "superintendent" was defined as "one who has the oversight and charge of something with the power of direction." Id.; see Thompson v. Craney,
¶29 Our early cases regarding the SPI similarly confirm this plain-meaning analysis of Article X, Section 1 as granting the SPI the executive superintending function over public instruction, while giving the legislature the authority to determine the SPI's "qualifications, powers, duties and *609compensation." For example, in State ex rel. Raymer v. Cunningham,
¶30 Wisconsin's public education system had grown considerably since the ratification of the Constitution *571in 1848. For example, the number of school age children had grown from 80,000 to more than 600,000, the value of public school property had grown from $50,000 to more than $10 million, and tax distributions for public education had grown from $92,000 to more than $4 million.
¶31 In our examination of the relationship between the legislature and Article X, Section 1, we said:
[T]he section of the constitution cited prohibited the legislature from increasing the compensation of that officer beyond the amount named, yet it expressly authorized them to increase his duties and enlarge his powers and responsibilities ad libitum. This authority of the legislature has been from time to time freely exercised by especially enjoining new duties and imposing new and more onerous responsibilities.
Id. at 47,
¶32 Similarly, after the Wisconsin Constitution was ratified in 1848, the first legislation passed regarding Article X, Section 1 provided:
The superintendent shall have a general supervision *572over public instruction in this state, and it shall be his duty to devote his whole time to the advancement of the cause of education .... To recommend the introduction and use of the most approved text books, and to secure as far as practicable uniformity in education throughout the state: ... To collect such information as may be deemed important in reference to common schools in each county, town precinct and school district: [ ] to ascertain the condition of all the school funds in this state with the amount of the school funds due to each township from lands or other sources: ... to adjust and decide all controversies and disputes arising under the school lands without costs to the parties: [ ] to perform such other duties as the legislature or governor of this state may direct.
Thompson,
D. Application
¶33 Agencies in Wisconsin have no inherent authority to make rules. Their rulemaking authority comes from the legislature, and may be limited, conditioned, or taken away by the legislature. See, e.g., Martinez,
¶34 The Wisconsin Constitution vests "supervision of public instruction," which is an executive function, *573in the SPI. However, the SPI's powers and duties are set by the legislature. The SPI therefore has two different sources for its authority, one which arises from the Wisconsin Constitution and the other which is created by legislative delegation. The source for rulemaking is legislative delegation. Because rulemaking is not "supervision of public instruction" within the meaning of Article X, Section 1, it is of no constitutional concern whether the governor is given equal or greater legislative authority than the SPI in rulemaking.
¶35 This conclusion is consistent with our decision in Thompson, where we reviewed then-governor Thompson's original action to have 1995 Wis. Act 27 (Act 27) declared constitutional. Thompson,
¶36 We held that Act 27 violated Article X, Section 1. We identified two "consistent themes" regarding the SPI from the constitutional debates: "first, that the system of education required uniformity; second, that the SPI was to provide this uniformity in an active manner by implementing the system of education."
¶37 The respondents argue that the provisions in this case are similarly unconstitutional because they elevate the governor to a position greater or equal to the SPI with regard to something the SPI does, as did 1995 Wis. Act 27. The respondents point out that we held in Thompson that "the legislature may not give equal or superior authority to any 'other officer' " over the supervision of public instruction.
¶38 A major flaw in the respondents' argument is the assumption that everything the SPI does arises from a constitutional grant of authority to the SPI under Article X, Section 1. In reality, the SPI engages in some activities that arise from *611legislative enactments. Rulemaking is one of those activities.
¶39 Although Thompson requires that no other officer be placed in a position superior or equal to the SPI with regard to the SPI's exercise of supervision of public instruction under Article X, Section 1, rulemaking is not such a function. Rulemaking is a legislative power that does not fall within the SPI's supervisory constitutional authority under Article X, Section 1. Rulemaking is a legislative delegation to the SPI; therefore, it may be limited or taken away, as the legislature chooses.
III. CONCLUSION
¶40 We conclude that the gubernatorial approval requirement for rulemaking is constitutional as applied to the SPI and DPI, whether they are found in the REINS Act or in previous provisions of ch. 227. Article X, Section 1 vests supervision of public instruction, an executive function, in the SPI. In contrast, when the SPI, through the DPI, promulgates rules, the SPI is exercising legislative power that comes not from the constitution but the legislature. Stated otherwise, the legislature delegates part of its constitutional power to legislate to the SPI, DPI, and many other agencies in the form of rulemaking power. That the SPI also has the executive constitutional function to supervise public instruction does not transform the SPI's legislatively delegated rulemaking power into a constitutional supervisory function. Therefore, it is of no constitutional concern that the governor is given equal or greater legislative authority than the SPI in rulemaking.
By the Court. -Declaration of rights; relief granted.
¶41 SHIRLEY S. ABRAHAMSON, J., withdrew from participation.
R.G. BRADLEY, J. concurs (opinion filed). KELLY, J. concurs (opinion filed).
A.W. BRADLEY, J. dissents, joined by DALLET, J. (opinion filed).
The legislature imposed this requirement on all administrative agencies in 2011 with the passage of 2011 Wis. Act 21. The petitioners initially argued that they sought to force the SPI and DPI to comply with the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, 2017 Wis. Act 57 (REINS Act) which introduced the requirements that (1) agencies submit scope statements to the Department of Administration (DOA), and (2) hold a public comment and hearing period on proposed rules. The petitioners later conceded that the SPI and DPI complied with these two requirements, and that their challenge was based on the constitutionality of the gubernatorial approval requirement as applied to the SPI and DPI.
"Agency" is defined broadly. An agency is "a board, commission, committee, department or officer in the state government, except the governor, a district attorney or a military or judicial officer."
All subsequent references to the Wisconsin Statutes are to the 2017-18 version unless otherwise indicated.
Petitioner's Reply Br. at 3.
Because our decision in Coyne v. Walker,
Stare decisis is a principle of policy that can add certainty to the law. State v. Denny,
Furthermore, our mandate in Coyne arises from a lead opinion, joined by one justice, a two-justice concurrence, and a one-justice concurrence. When we are asked to overturn one of our prior decisions, lead opinions that have no common legal rationale with their concurrences are troublesome. For example, we cannot analyze whether "[c]hanges or developments in the law have undermined the rationale behind a decision," Luedtke,
As we have explained previously, the constitution drafted in 1846 was not approved by Wisconsin voters. However, it was rejected for reasons other than the article on education, and the 1846 and 1848 versions of the article on education were substantially identical. See Thompson v. Craney,
Concurring Opinion
¶42 The majority correctly upholds the constitutionality of the legislature's decision to require gubernatorial *576approval of administrative rulemaking. I join the opinion except for those portions espousing the ostensible importance and necessity of the legislature's delegation of power to the administrative state. See majority op., ¶17.
¶43 The majority repeats the judiciary's longstanding perception that "the delegation of the power to make rules and effectively administer a given policy is a necessary ingredient of an efficiently functioning government." Majority op., *612¶17 (quoting Gilbert v. Medical Examining Bd.,
¶44 The idea that the administrative state is necessary for good and efficient government "reflect[s] this belief that bureaucrats might more effectively govern the country than the American people" and facilitated "the progressives usher[ing] in significant expansions of the administrative state, ultimately culminating in the New Deal." Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Ass'n, --- U.S. ----,
In government ... the hardest of hard things is to make progress.... Nowadays the reason is that the many, the people, who are sovereign have no single ear which one can approach, and are selfish, ignorant, timid, stubborn, or foolish with the selfishnesses, the ignorances, the stubbornnesses, the timidities, or the follies of several thousand persons,-albeit there are hundreds who are wise.
Woodrow Wilson, The Study of Administration, Political Science Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 2, 197, 207-08 (June 1887). Wilson lamented the inability of the unwashed masses to appreciate the suppositions of "perfectly instructed heads" who would produce "infallible, placidly *578wise maxims of government" because "[t]he bulk of mankind is rigidly unphilosophical, and nowadays [alas!] the bulk of mankind votes." Id. at 209.
¶45 The philosophical roots of rule by bureaucratic overlords are antithetical to the Founders' vision of our constitutional Republic, in which supreme power is held by the people through their elected representatives, and "the creation of rules of private conduct" is "an irregular and infrequent occurrence." DOT v. Association of Am. R.Rs., --- U.S. ----,
¶46 More recently, "necessity" as a justification for the administrative state has been tied to the philosophy of a living constitution, under which the law may be molded to reflect changing circumstances in society, regardless of what the text actually says.
*579Hamburger, supra ¶4, at 429. Living constitutionalism is grounded in sociology, not the law,
¶47 The United States and Wisconsin Constitutions both vest exclusive powers in each of three independent branches of government, not four. "The Constitution does not vest the Federal Government with an undifferentiated 'governmental power,' " but rather, it "identifies three types of governmental power and, in the Vesting Clauses, commits them to three branches of Government." Association of Am. R.Rs., 135 S. Ct. at 1240 (Thomas, J., concurring). Like the federal system, the Wisconsin Constitution establishes three branches of government, and "[t]he separation of powers doctrine is implicit in this tripartite division." Gabler,
¶48 "The people bestowed much power on the legislature, comprised of their representatives whom the people elect to make the laws." Gabler,
¶49 Although a revival of the non-delegation doctrine has not garnered the votes of a majority on the Court, this was not always the case. In the past, the Court recognized "[t]he Congress is not permitted to abdicate or to transfer to others the essential legislative functions with which it is thus vested." A.L.A. Schechter Poultry Corp,
¶50 Reallocating the making of rules, voluminous in number and significant in substance, from the legislature to administrative agencies housed within the executive branch, aggrandizes the power of the latter, at the risk of replacing the rule of law with the rule of men:
The idea that the Executive may not formulate *582generally applicable rules of private conduct ... has ancient roots in the concept of the 'rule of law,' which has been understood ... to mean that a ruler must be subject to the law in exercising his power and may not govern by will alone.
Association of Am. R.Rs.,
¶51 The Founders recognized that maintaining the formal separation of powers *615was essential to preserving individual liberty.
This devotion to the separation of powers is, in part, what supports our enduring conviction that the Vesting Clauses are exclusive and that the branch in which a power is vested may not give it up or otherwise reallocate it. The Framers were concerned not just with the starting allocation, but with the "gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department." The Federalist No. 51, at 321 (J. Madison).
¶52 The Wisconsin Constitution replicates the "separation of powers principles[ ] established at the founding of our nation and enshrined in the structure of the United States Constitution." See Gabler,
¶53 The concept of the administrative state is nonexistent in either the United States or Wisconsin Constitutions, which means "administrative power runs outside the law." Hamburger, supra ¶4, at 6.
We have too long abrogated our duty to enforce the separation of powers required by our Constitution. We have overseen and sanctioned the growth of an administrative system that concentrates the power to make laws and the power to enforce them in the hands of a vast and unaccountable administrative apparatus that finds no comfortable home in our constitutional structure. The end result may be trains that run on time (although I doubt it), but the cost is to our Constitution and the individual liberty it protects.
Association of Am. R.Rs.,
To the Framers of the United States Constitution, the concentration of governmental power presented an extraordinary threat to individual liberty: "The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, ... may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny." The Federalist No. 47, at 298 (James Madison) (Clinton Rossiter ed., 1961).
Gabler,
*616¶54 In Tetra Tech EC, Inc. v. Wisconsin Department of Revenue,
¶55 Passing legislation sometimes requires political courage. Legislative initiatives may move slowly and some bills never become laws. Consequently, "Congress often prefers to set a politically uncontroversial goal and leave it to the agencies to figure out the politically controversial means of achieving that goal." Charles J. Cooper, Confronting the Administrative State, 25 National Affairs 96, 103 (Fall 2015). Returning all lawmaking responsibilities to the legislature would remove the shroud over administrative rulemaking, placing the lawmaking process back in the public eye where it constitutionally belongs.
¶56 The objective of our Founders was not an "efficiently functioning government."
By separating the lawmaking and law enforcement functions, the framers sought to thwart the ability of an individual or group to exercise arbitrary or absolute power. And by restricting lawmaking to one branch and forcing any legislation to endure bicameralism and presentment, the framers sought to make the task of lawmaking more arduous still.
*617United States v. Nichols,
¶57 "The Framers could hardly have envisioned ... the authority administrative agencies now hold over our economic, social, and political activities." City of Arlington,
See majority op., ¶7 ("The REINS Act did not alter Act 21's requirement that an agency (1) submit a statement of scope to the governor for approval prior to drafting a proposed rule, and (2) submit a final draft of a rule to the governor for approval before submitting it to the legislature.").
"Stare decisis" is fundamental to the rule of law. Johnson Controls, Inc. v. Emp'rs Ins. of Wausau,
Article X, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution provides:
The supervision of public instruction shall be vested in a state superintendent and such other officers as the legislature shall direct; and their qualifications, powers, duties and compensation shall be prescribed by law. The state superintendent shall be chosen by the qualified electors of the state at the same time and in the same manner as members of the supreme court, and shall hold office for 4 years from the succeeding first Monday in July. The term of office, time and manner of electing or appointing all other officers of supervision of public instruction shall be fixed by law.
See also Coyne v. Walker,
This court previously determined in Thompson that the former powers of the elected SPI cannot constitutionally be given to appointed "other officers" at the state level who are not subordinate to the SPI. Thompson v. Craney,
Majority op., ¶17.
Concurring Opinion
¶58 I join the majority opinion except with respect to ¶17.
Dissenting Opinion
¶59 A mere three years ago, this court decided the very issue that it is reconsidering today. In Coyne v. Walker, a majority of the court determined that 2011 Act 21 (Act 21) is "unconstitutional and therefore void as applied to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and his subordinates."
¶60 Yet despite this clear mandate, here we are again. A provision that does the very same thing as Act 21 is back before the court. It comes to us through a new enactment (2017 Wis. Act 57) and with a catchy new name (the REINS Act), but the substance is identical.
¶61 And why are we here again? At oral argument, counsel for the petitioners was asked, "you wouldn't be here asking a supreme court of the state of *588Wisconsin to overturn a decision that it just made two years ago if it were the same court, would you?" In response, counsel acknowledged, "any lawyer has to make strategic decisions about what is likely to be successful." Indeed.
¶62 Although nothing in our Constitution has changed since Coyne was decided, what has changed is the membership of the court. This time around, a new majority of this court does an about-face and now concludes that the substance of Act 57 is constitutional. To reach this conclusion, it throws the doctrine of stare decisis out the window.
*618¶63 Not only is the majority opinion doctrinally erroneous, it is also analytically unpersuasive. As Justice Abrahamson wrote in Coyne: "rulemaking is part of the 'supervision of public instruction,' which Article X, Section 1 vests in the superintendent."
*589
¶64 Because the majority disregards binding precedent and arrives at a result that unconstitutionally transfers the vested authority of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the governor, I respectfully dissent.
I
¶65 This case arises from a petition for original action filed by the Petitioners against the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and the Department of Public Instruction (DPI). Majority op., ¶1. The Petitioners seek a declaration that the SPI and DPI must comply with 2017 Wis. Act 57's (Act 57) requirement that they receive the governor's approval prior to drafting or promulgating an administrative rule.
¶66 Relegating the discussion of stare decisis to a footnote, the majority states that it "consider[ed] whether the doctrine of stare decisis should be employed in the case before us."
*590¶67 However, it declines to apply the doctrine of stare decisis, reasoning that "stare decisis does not require us to retain constitutional interpretations that were objectively wrong when made ... because such interpretations are unsound in principle."
II
¶68 Neither of the majority's proffered rationales for departing from stare decisis is persuasive. Stare decisis is fundamental to the rule of law. Johnson Controls, Inc. v. Emp'rs Ins. of Wausau,
¶69 "Fidelity to precedent ensures that existing law will not be abandoned lightly. When existing law is open to revision in every case, deciding cases becomes a mere exercise of judicial will, with arbitrary and unpredictable results." Schultz v. Natwick,
¶70 "No change in the law is justified by a change in the membership of the court ...." Bartholomew v. Wis. Patients Comp. Fund,
¶71 Throwing caution to the wind, the majority disregards the principles that fundamentally underlie our legal system. It contends that Coyne was "objectively wrong." Majority op., ¶8 n.6. Further, it ascribes significance to the fact that the majority in Coyne consisted of three separate opinions.
¶72 Apparently, "objectively wrong" is defined by the majority as what it subjectively thinks is wrong. The majority provides no explanation for the assertion that Coyne was "objectively wrong" other than that it disagrees with it.
¶73 Additionally, the split nature of the Coyne opinion is of no import. The mandate of Coyne was clear despite the fractured nature of the opinions. Although the four justices in the majority subscribed to differing rationales, they agreed on the essential conclusion: "We hold that Act 21 is unconstitutional and therefore void as applied to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and his subordinates." Coyne,
*592¶74 Such a decision creates no uncertainty and fosters no confusion. Act 57, at issue here, does not differ in any material respect from Act 21.
¶75 Accordingly, I conclude that the doctrine of stare decisis applies here with full force. The rule of law and the "actual and perceived integrity of the judicial process" demand it. See Johnson Controls,
III
¶76 The majority errs further in its substantive analysis of the separation of powers issues this case presents. I joined Justice Abrahamson's concurrence in Coyne, and I believe that it remains the correct analysis here.
¶77 In Coyne, Justice Abrahamson's concurrence determined that 2011 Wis. Act 21, which is in all material respects identical to Act 57, "unconstitutionally infringes *620on the 'supervision of public instruction' vested in the superintendent by Article X, Section 1 of the Wisconsin Constitution." Coyne,
¶78 Such a conclusion is supported by significant constitutional history as has been previously set *593forth by this court in Thompson and Coyne. See Coyne,
¶79 Delegates to the constitutional conventions echoed two consistent themes: "first, that the system of education required uniformity[, and] second, that the SPI was to provide this uniformity in an active manner by implementing the system of education."
¶80 Consistent with this history and the determination of the Thompson court, the concurrence concluded that "rulemaking is a supervisory power of the superintendent and that 2011 Wis. Act 21 unconstitutionally *594gives the governor and the secretary of the Department of Administration the unchecked authority to block rulemaking by the superintendent." Coyne,
¶81 For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent.
¶82 I am authorized to state that Justice REBECCA FRANK DALLET joins this dissent.
I agree with the majority that the issues in this case do not require an "exposition"-"dogmatic" or otherwise-of the constitutional legitimacy of the administrative state. Majority op., ¶19. I write in response to the majority's endorsement of the necessity of delegating legislative power to administrative agencies. See majority op., ¶17.
Charles J. Cooper, Confronting the Administrative State, 25 National Affairs 96, 96 (Fall 2015).
Phillip Hamburger, Is Administrative Law Unlawful? 429 (2014).
The legislature codified this principle in
Because the people delegate power through constitutional grants, "when Congress purports to give its legislative power to the executive, the question is not whether the principal can delegate the power, but whether the agent can subdelegate it." Hamburger, supra ¶5 note 2, at 377. "[T]he agent ordinarily cannot subdelegate the power to a sub-agent, as this runs counter to the apparent intent of the principal." Id. at 380.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Kristi KOSCHKEE, Amy Rosno, Christopher Martinson and Mary Carney, Petitioners, v. Carolyn Stanford TAYLOR, in Her Official Capacity as Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction and Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Respondents.
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