When last we checked (Watchdog, 4/14/11), Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi had gotten dozens of mostly negative letters over her role in blocking implementation of Scott Walker's bill reining in public employee unions. Since then, the flow has slowed to a trickle.
And in fact, five of the eight letters sent to Sumi since mid-April are positive.
"Thank you for placing a temporary restraining order on Gov. Walker's budget repair bill," wrote one Madison resident. "I know you have received letters criticizing you for this, so I thought I would send one of encouragement and support."
On the negative side, Larry Sisson of Seattle, Wash., informed the judge: "There is no collective bargaining between the unions and the state. More like collective coercion in that the state has no bargaining power versus the unions."
Sumi got the other two negative letters last week, after she struck down the bill. One was from an anonymous "Wisconsin Citizen," who wrote, "I cannot understand how you can sleep at night knowing that you were bought by the UNION THUGS."
And recurring correspondent Richard McKee of Phoenix, Ariz., called (PDF) Sumi a "spoiled brat judge" who is "imposing the will of the communist/socialist minority." He included the address of the U.S. Communist Party, so Sumi "may join and declare your support of Marxist/Leninist ideas, revolutions, concentration camps, and genocide of all those who disagree with your left-wing stupidity."