Separate branches of Wisconsin state government, defined

Mr. BigA classic quote today in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's story on the outcome (there won't be any) of the criminal inquiry into the incident in which State Supreme Court Justice David Prosser put his hands on the throat of Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. Seeking reaction from Gov. Scott Walker, the newspaper reported:

Walker said he's offered his help, but that it's not his place to tell the justices what to do.

No, that place obviously belongs to Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, who advised Prosser -- a former Republican state legislator -- and anyone else who would listen that he would need a quick decision from the court on whether Walker's union-busting bill was enacted legally. Even Prosser stipulates to this. From the police investigation into the incident involving Prosser and Bradley:

"Justice Prosser said the speaker of the assembly, Jeff Fitzgerald, put the court in an awkward position by saying they needed to have a decision by June 14, 2011; otherwise [the assembly] would have to vote all over again." — Interview with Prosser, page 37.