SAC proposes Judicial Board

Last Monday, the Johns Hopkins University Student Activities Commission (SAC) proposed an amendment at its monthly General Assembly meeting that would create a Judicial Committee to resolve disputes among SAC groups.

SAC Executive Board Chairperson Noel de Santos and Director of Student Involvement Dr. William Smedick proposed the establishment of an SAC Judicial Committee and presented the Judicial Committee by-laws to the General Assembly.

The Judicial Committee would be "responsible for hearing all complaints regarding the violation of University and/or SAC policies by recognized SAC organizations or by members of those organizations when the violation is specifically related to student activities," as stated in the Judicial Committee by-laws. The SAC Judicial Committee will be given all of its powers by the Office of the Dean of Student Life and Dean of Students Susan Boswell.

Smedick said, "Early this semester, I asked the SAC to consider developing some policies for self-government for all student groups. They put the ability to govern yourselves squarely on your shoulders."

A Judicial Committee Chair, chosen randomly from a pool of SAC Judicial Committee Members, will head the SAC Judicial Committee. The committee will include the SAC Chairperson, the Director of Student Involvement, one member of the SAC Executive Board, two members of the SAC General Assembly, and the Assistant Treasurer of the Student Council who will act as the Judicial Committee Secretary and as a non-voting member of the SAC Judicial Committee.

"What we thought was important was that the SAC General Assembly gets the most members on it. There will be two members from the SAC General Assembly and three alternates," said de Santos.

Smedick said, "It is a student-driven committee. I serve on the committee as well, but there is always a majority of students on the committee and it is always chaired by a student."

The SAC Judicial Committee will deal with conflicts between two SAC member organizations and conflicts between individuals and SAC member organizations. The committee will convene only if the two groups cannot come to an agreement or if the SAC Chair and the Director of Student Involvement cannot come to an agreement on a single course of action or settlement. However, de Santos said, "The Office of the Dean of Student Life holds the right to adjudicate the dispute directly. We believe that with most of these cases, something can be worked out fairly quickly without having to bring in the SAC Judicial Board. We aren't here to levy sanctions, but to help the two parties out and if that can't be done, then it will go the SAC board."

According to the Judicial Committee by-laws, "the complainant must file a complaint and the respondent must submit a plea to the SAC Judicial Committee Secretary" and both must hand in "a list of witnesses to be called and/or list of evidence to be presented." If a party is an organization, it must choose a member to represent the organization. Hearings will result in a dismissal or sanctions levied on responsible parties. The sanctions include a $50 fine, denial of University resources, and educative sanctions, such as community service and educational seminars.

Student Life Assistant Paul Narain worked closely with de Santos in creating the policies for the SAC Judicial Committee. "Although he had a hand in helping me write it, it is still fair to student groups. There is ample time to submit your plea. It should be a very fair process. We tried to remove all cases of bias and think of all contingencies," said de Santos.

Smedick said, "Two years ago, Andy Pergham headed a committee that got all of this started. He was the chairperson of the SAC... and the head of the committee that started... working toward this judicial program."

Smedick also said that the role of the SAC Judicial Committee is "that the students can govern their own activities and programs so that if there is a problem it doesn't automatically go to the administration, which is how it has happened in the past. A few years ago, there were problems between student groups and there was no mechanism in place for that to be adjudicated so that it automatically went to the Dean."

The SAC feels that having a Judicial Committee to mediate between student groups will illustrate the self-sufficiency of students.

"It is a major step for SAC to go ahead and pass this because it shows that we are adult enough to take care of ourselves... so that we don't need to go to an outside party to do that," said de Santos.

The General Assembly will vote on whether to pass the Judicial Committee at the General Assembly meeting in December. If the proposal passes, the SAC will have nominations for the two judicial board members and the three alternates and elections will take place in February.

"I wanted to make sure that this wasn't passed by the SAC Executive Board or by Student Council directly. I wanted to make sure that the SAC General Assembly at large was involved in this, because it affects each and every one of the SAC general assembly members. It enumerates all the powers that the SAC board has, any issues that may come up, and has contingencies for any problems that might arise later on," said de Santos.