You can be forgiven if you thought this fight was settled over a decade ago when Scott Walker’s historic collective bargaining reforms (which sent the left into apoplexy and spawned a failed recall effort) were upheld in multiple challenges in federal and state courts.

A liberal judge in Dane County (who signed the Walker recall petition, of course) has out of the blue struck down the law, which has saved Wisconsin taxpayers over $16 billion.

Most disturbing, is the activist judge’s ruling may survive on appeal, as ideological control of the state Supreme Court is up for grabs in the April 1 election between liberal Susan Crawford and conservative Brad Schimel. The stakes in that one just got raised, dramatically.