SMC Judicial Board: Officials propose Judicial Board changes
By EMILY BRAMMER
News Writer
Saint Mary's student government officials said they have witnessed violations of students' due process rights when dealing with the Judicial Board and will review the Board's processes.
Elizabeth Jablonski-Diehl, student body president elect, and Kristina Maurer, co-chairwoman of the Judicial Board, said they have witnessed violations of the due process rights of students facing judicial proceedings. They said these violations included students who were not given the opportunity to read copies of written reports stating the circumstances and allegations of their case and instances in which students did not hear all testimony presented against them.
"What's alarming is that most students don't even know that their rights are being violated," said Jablonski-Diehl. "[The violations are] no one's fault. It's the way the system is set up."
Conflicts of interest exist in the system as well. Under current procedures, any member of the College community who witnesses a policy violation may file an incident report with the appropriate residence hall director. The residence hall director then determines whether she will hear the case or whether the Judicial Board will. A conflict of interest arises when the residence hall director files an incident report herself and then proceeds to hear the case.
"Hall directors have never really filed reports before," said Maurer. "But this year quite a few have, and it has resulted in a serious conflict of interest."
Students' rights in judicial procedures are also vague in the Saint Mary's Student Handbook. It leaves the Judicial Board room for maneuvering, Jablonski-Diehl said, but it causes confusion when students encounter proceedings that are different from what they expect.
Director of Residence Life Michelle Russell, who serves as the judicial coordinator, said she encourages students to seek clarification of vague policies.
But Jablonski-Diehl said she is seeking revision to the policies and feels optimistic that adjustments will be made.
"The administration is very willing to make changes," said Jablonski Diehl. "Unfortunately, it's a very long process."
While Jablonski-Diehl and Maurer said they are encouraging revision of the judicial procedures, they are also considering completely restructuring the system in order to avoid conflicts of interest and expand the Judicial Board's functions.
Both agree that streamlining the Judicial Board with student government would make the system available to a greater scope of student complaints.
"It would open the system up to dealing with important student issues such as election complaints and a magnitude of concerns that I can't even comprehend right now," said Maurer.
All News Stories for Tuesday, February 18, 2003
