Which Constitution do we follow?

Some notes about “Court overturns new constitution“… I’ll try to make this as brief and simple as possible. But as all things SA, it ain’t that easy:

Chief Judge Caity Baxter sent the decision early Tuesday morning via e-mail. The case was very complicated and technical, relying on things like proper procedure as per the Roberts Rules of Order and the expiration of the statute of limitations. Hopefully the article did its best to break down the case.

However, some things were not included, including this statute of limitations argument, which was mistakenly omitted at 2 a.m. EVP Morgan Corr and the defense argued that according to the constitution, a case must be filed within a certain number of days after the election. VPJLA Jeff Goodman filed the case a week after the election. Thus, Corr said that regardless of the evidence, the case was filed outside of the so-called “statute of limitations” and could not be heard. The Student Court ignored this arguement.

Also, there is some question as to what the conclusion is: which constitution is in effect? Well, that’s not so easy to answer. According to the Student Court, the old constitution will continued to be used, meaning that the upcoming SA elections will be conducted using the same election rules and guideliness in the old constitution and its subsequent bylaws.

However, Sens. Joe Henchman (Law) and Ben Traverse (CCAS), and whomever will join them, say that the new constitution, which was certified and thus cannot be reversed, went into affect on Jan. 17. They say that Senate must continue to enforce the new constitution.

So if the Student Court says one thing and the Senate decides to go another, what does that mean? That all depends on any legal action, it seems. SA Attorney General, sophomore Ryan Sullivan, said he is working on an appeal that will contest the Student Court’s ruling.

THE CONCLUSION: It seems that we are in a sort of limbo in between constitutions. Some might say we’re in anarchy, with one branch enforcing one governing document and the other operating on another.

Stay tuned to this blog and the Daily Colonial every morning for the latest on the future of the Student Association.