Closed impeachment trial might be illegal
Published April 30, 2004
The Missouri Students Association Senate might have acted improperly when it voted Wednesday to close the impeachment trial of MSA President Brian Laoruangroch next Wednesday.
Sandy Davidson, associate professor of journalism, said though MSA possibly is not subject to the Missouri Sunshine Law, its own operating procedures might require the trial be open to the public.
"It would be ironic for them to impeach him for violating their rules, and, in doing so, break the rules," Davidson said.
Davidson, who teaches media law, said the definition of impeachment makes it a legal proceeding before a quasi-political body. According to MSA rules, the meeting can to be closed if it involves legal proceedings, but the rules also require the meeting be open because of its political nature.
MSA rules state "all meetings of committees, commissions, departments or other sub-agencies with the Association governmental structure and meeting of Association recognized organizations must be open to the public except that all judicial deliberations of student courts or of the Senate shall be exempt from the provisions of this article."
Davidson said though student court proceedings are closed, the impeachment articles and verdict will be public. Therefore, a strong argument for an open trial exists.
"The charges in the judicial deliberations in the Student Court are not open, but that is not the case here," she said. "Why would you have open charges and an open verdict and a secret trial?"
Davidson said the fact that an impeachment is a trial suggests it could be closed under MSA's open meeting rules, but she said she was uncertain of the proper decision in this case.
Davidson said the language she found most troubling was the closing of judicial deliberations in the Senate because the language does not specify what constitutes a Senate deliberation.
"Given how nebulous the language is, I am still a little uncertain about whether the meeting should be open or closed," Davidson said. "The onus is on the Senate to show how they can close the meeting given their internal guidelines. If they can't do it, they would be closing the meeting illegally."
MSA Speaker Damon Ferlazzo said the impeachment hearing scheduled for next Wednesday would be confidential and the meeting records will also be sealed.
Davidson said because MSA allows only two types of meetings to be closed and because an impeachment is a political not a legal issue, the impeachment has to be open.
Student Legal Services Coordinator Shelley Syler said she is unsure of the legality of MSA's decision but discussed the issue with MSA adviser Nick Evans. Syler attended the meeting where MSA voted to close the impeachment meeting, but she was not in the room when the vote was taken. Senate Clerk Greg Chase read the Sunshine Law before the vote.
Laoruangroch said he wants the trial to be open to the public and the media.
"I want students to see how their senators are voting," Laoruangroch said. "Even if they're going to throw me in jail for what I say, I want students to know."
Ferlazzo said he believed Laoruangroch needed to be disciplined for his actions, but the nature of the discipline needs to be confidential for Laoruangroch's own protection and to facilitate discussion in the trial.
"The trial should be closed because it's provided by law that it should happen that way so Brian (Laoruangroch) can be as honest as possible without fear, which allows people to speak their minds right then and there," Ferlazzo said. "When people are in a smaller group, people feel easier speaking in front of a small group instead of a large group."
' Staff writer Jenna Youngs
contributed to this report
