Graphic by Gauraang Biyani
Board of Appeals Injunction Nearly Kills Constitution Vote
In the most recent Student Government constitution referendum, a petition nearly indefinitely delayed the vote.
Apr 1, 2018
After nearly significantly delaying the new Student Government constitution referendum, an injunction issued by the Student Government Board of Appeals delayed the new constitution referendum by an hour on Thursday evening.
The initial indefinite injunction issued by the BoA was rescinded at 6 p.m. after BoA members met with Student Government President Kelly Murphy, Vice President Marie-Claude Hykpo and Student Life staff member Vic Lindsay the morning of Thursday, Mar. 29 to discuss the case.
Three of the five BoA members voted to rescind the temporary injunction following the meeting, but the initial petition received on Wednesday about the constitutionality of the referendum on the new constitution has yet to be adjudicated. A final decision by the BoA is expected to arrive sooner than usual, according to a member of the board.
The decision regarding the constitutionality of the recent referendum appears to hinge on four questions.
The first question is if an entirely new constitution qualifies as an amendment. The current constitution contains no clause or discussion on how to institute a totally new constitution.
Then, if the new constitution counts as an amendment, is the General Assembly technically the only body that can pass the new constitution?
In discussing constitutional amendments in the General Assembly, the constitution says that, “The following are exclusive powers of the General Assembly: … Voting members of the General Assembly have the right to propose amendments to this Constitution.”
It also states that, “Any voting member of the General Assembly may propose an amendment to the Student Constitution at a regularly scheduled meeting of the General Assembly. At the next regularly scheduled meeting of the General Assembly, a debate will be held on the amendment, and a positive two-thirds vote of the General Assembly will pass the proposed amendment.”
The third question is whether a two-thirds majority should be mandated for the referendum to pass. This question is a mix of the two-thirds rule for amendments in General Assembly and the assumption though unwritten law about passing amendments through referendum.
The fourth and truly philosophical final question is whether procedure from the old constitution matters now that a whole new constitution is being voted on. The general student body may favor the new constitution and see the referendum as legitimate, regardless of technical constitutionality.
Overshadowing the case is that in the new constitution the BoA, which issued the injunction about the referendum’s constitutionality, will cease to exist.
Sources involved intimately with the case confirmed to The Gazelle that the initial petition about the vote that will dissolve the BoA was brought by a former BoA member.
In conversation with The Gazelle, members of both the current BoA and the Student Government Executive Board voiced their hopes that the new constitution will make the ethics committee that inherits the BoA’s role more accessible and consultative. Current descriptions of the BoA given by those involved included “Byzantine” and “adversarial.”
The disputed Student Government referendum results will reportedly be announced on April 1.
Tom Klein is Editor-in-Chief. Email him at feedback@thegazelle.org.
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