On today’s show, host Carousel Bayrd speaks with Madison attorney Steven Porter, who successfully challenged the State of Wisconsin over its new rules governing public access to the State Capitol.

In response to the historic Capitol occupation and ensuing daily protests in the rotunda, the Department of Administration issued rules that barred groups of more than 3 people from assembling without a permit. Some participants in anti-Walker protests were ticketed and arrested by Capitol Police.

But now a federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction against those rules, suspending them while a lawsuit is pending. Judge William Conley says that groups of up to 20 people may now assemble in the State Capitol without a permit.

In this case, Porter represented Michael Kissick, a UW professor and would-be singer in the daily Solidarity Singalong protest. Kissick said the State’s rules and indiscriminate enforcement through ticketing prevented him from exercising his Constitutionally-protected right to free speech and assembly.

The case is scheduled for trial next January.

Photo credit: Jonathan Rosenblum