Student Court cancels hearing
Published Nov. 14, 2006
Sameera Ali and Kelley Robinson were granted a Student Court hearing and one last hope for inclusion in the Missouri Students Association election. Those hopes were dashed when the Student Court canceled the hearing the day before it was scheduled to take place.
A document from Chief Justice Rachel Frederick's e-mail address said the hearing would not be held because the nine-member court could not meet quorum, which is the minimum number of justices needed to be present to conduct business.
The Student Court settled an appeal against the Board of Elections Commissioners.
"Student Court is the final decision maker, and their decision is not able to be appealed to another body," the document stated.
Fredrick said in a subsequent e-mail that the meeting was scheduled as the result of a miscommunication between the justices and their adviser, Donell Young. She said that because he was in a hurry, Young made the decision before he could contact her or the other justices.
The document also cites the MSA handbook, which states, "The decision made by the MSA Student Court shall be final. No appeals will be considered."
The justices said they regret that the slate was eliminated but that their decision was based on the evidence and the MSA handbook.
"Instead of trying to undo what was done, we encourage everyone with concerns to continue to work to amend the MSA constitution and bylaws or the BEC handbook to reflect those very concerns," the document stated.
The elections began Monday with the two remaining slates, Corey Gibson and Chelsea Johnson and Rachel Anderson and Andrew Cafourek, on the online ballot.