Monday, January 10, 2011

Proposed Constitutional Amendments

Cory Schug, as a representative of several student organizations, proposed the following amendments to the Student Bar Association Constitution.  These amendments will be discussed at the SBA meeting on Monday January 17, 2011 at 6pm.

Please contact Kelly Obermeier [kelly.obermeier@quinnipiac.edu] if you have any questions about the SBA or would like to request a voice at this meeting.

Please contact Cory Schug [cory.schug@quinnipiac.edu] if you have any questions about the proposed amendments.



Article VIII
Section 1
(B) The student members of the Judicial Board shall be nominated and elected by the Senate pursuant to paragraph D.
(D) At the last SBA meeting of the spring academic term, or the first meeting after a vacancy on the judicial board occurs Justices shall be nominated and elected per the Judicial Board election procedure of XVI § 6 of this Constitution.
(H) In the case of voluntary retirement or impeachment of a Student Justice, vacancies will be filled pursuant to paragraph (D) of this section.
Section 2
(A)   Members of the Judicial Board shall be any student in good standing.  The Senate, when forming the Judicial Board, shall consider both full-time and part-time students.
Section 3
(A)(1). Appointment
The Chief Justice shall be a student serving on Judicial Board and then appointed by the President to serve as the Chief Justice with the consent of the Senate.
(B)(1). Appointment
The Senior Justice shall be a student serving on Judicial Board and then appointed by the President to serve as the Senior Justice with the consent of the Senate.
(C)(1) Appointment
The Judicial Board Clerk shall be a student serving on Judicial Board and then appointed by the President to serve as the Judicial Board Clerk with the consent of the Senate.
(D)(1) Appointment
The Associate Justices shall be a student nominated and selected by Section 1 paragraph D of this article.
XIV - Elections
Re-title Section 5 to School-Wide Special Elections
Section 6 – Senatorial Special Elections
(A) Nominations will be accepted at a general meeting of the SBA for any student meeting the qualifications for the position.
(B) For all nominations to be approved the student must receive a 25% approval vote of senators present at the meeting.
(C) Before the next SBA meeting the nominated and approved student will be contacted for confirmation of willingness to serve.
(D) At the first SBA meeting after the nominations the Senate will vote on all nominated, approved, and confirmed students with each Senator receiving the same number of votes as vacancies being filled.
(E)  The students with the most votes over 50% of Senators in attendance will fill the vacancies.
(F)  In case of the top students not receiving 50% vote for all vacancies the top students receiving 50% will fill the vacancies and the Senate shall revote with the remaining candidates in accordance to (D) of this Section.


#2 New Organization Funding
Article X section 4 (A)
The Senate shall determine what is sufficient funding for a new organization subsequent to the recognition under section 2 of this article.


#3 Standing Committees
Article XI section 7. Public Service Committee
(A) The SBA President shall appoint the chairperson for the Public Service Committee.
(B) The Public Service Committee shall consist of four members other than the chair person
(1)  There shall be at least one 1L, 2L, and 3L/4L member on the committee including the chair.
(2)  A 1L senator shall be member of the committee
(3)  A member of the senate or the executive board of the SBA shall be another member of the committee.
(4)  Two members shall be a members of executive boards of organizations and not members of the senate or the executive board of the SBA.
                                                        i.     These members shall be nominated, approved, and elected per the Senatorial Election Procedure of XVI § 6 of the Constitution.
(C) The Committee shall be responsible for pre-approving the substantial service requirement proposals of organizations.
(D) The Committee shall be responsible for reviewing the completion of the substantial service requirement of organizations.
(E)  The Committee shall be responsible for creating and maintaining the guidelines for the Public Service Requirement.
Article XI section 8 (renumbering current section 7 to section 8)
(C) Except where enumerated in section 1 of this article, Article VI section 2(E), Article VI section 3(E), and Article XI section 7, no standing committee will have more than one voting member of the executive board.
            (1)            This does not limit members of the executive board assisting the finance committee during the budget allocation process.
(D)Except as enumerated in the constitution, the chairperson of a standing committee shall not be a member of the executive board of the SBA.
(E) All chairpersons must be approved by a majority vote of the Senate.
Article XI section 9 (renumbering current section 8 to section 9)


#4 Ad Hoc Committees
Article XII section 3
(A) Chairpersons of ad hoc committees shall be appointed by the SBA President with the confirmation of the Senate by a majority vote.
(B) The chairperson of a committee shall not be a member of the executive board.
Article XII Section 4
(A) The SBA President shall appoint ad hoc committee members.
(B) The ad hoc committee shall consist of no more than one voting executive board member.


#5 Budget Allocation Process
Article XIII Section 3
(B) Such reallocation shall occur only after notice to the Committee or organization has been provided and that organization has been given the opportunity to justify their budget according to paragraph (C) of this section, infra.
(C) The organization or Committee will be given the opportunity at the SBA meeting directly following any notice of reallocation of funding to explain the need for funding and to show that the funding is being used in accordance with the initial grant of the funding during the budgetary allocation process.   After the organization or Committee has explained the need for funding the Senate shall vote with a requirement of 67% of the Senators in attendance to reallocate the funding.
(D) Disbursement of funds approved during the budgetary allocation process at the start of semester may not be withheld except for reasons stated in sections 6 or 7, infra.
(E) Renumber prior D.


Amendment #6 – Vacancies
Article XV
Section 1 permanent vacancies
(B) If a Permanent Vacancy occurs in the Executive Board, the Senate, or the Judicial Board, the position will be filled in accordance with the Senatorial Special Elections of XVI § 6 of this Constitution.
(C) The newly appointed Executive Board officer or Senator shall complete the balance of the term of the individual who vacated the seat.




Juries and Justice Forum, Friday January 28th


"JURIES AND JUSTICE" Forum

Friday January 28, 2011 
2:30-5:30pm
QUSL Grand Courtroom

A reception will follow the forum, which is free and open to the public.

Co-sponsored by the Connecticut Bar Foundation, the event will include two panel discussions with a range of notable speakers.


The panels at this forum will evaluate Connecticut's unique system of requiring individual questioning of each potential jury member and why for most criminal cases Connecticut does not allow juries to have any role in deciding what sentence a defendant should receive.


In the first panel, speakers will address the topic, “Individualized Jury Voir Dire: Do We Question Too Much?” Panelists include: Kevin Kane, chief state’s attorney of Connecticut; Linda K. Lager, chief administrative judge (Civil), Connecticut Superior Court; Norman Pattis, The Pattis Law Firm; and Carl J. Schuman, judge, Connecticut Superior Court.  This panel will be moderated by Michael P. Lawlor, the Undersecretary for Criminal Justice Policy of the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management.


In the second panel, speakers will discuss “Juries and Criminal Sentencing: Should Our Juries Have More Say?” Panelists include: Leonard C. Boyle, deputy chief state’s attorney of Connecticut; Robert J. Devlin, Jr., chief administrative judge (Criminal), Connecticut Superior Court; Timothy C. Moynahan, Moynahan & Minella Law Firm; and Shelley R. Sadin, Zeldes, Needle & Cooper, PC.  This panel will be moderated by Sarah French Russell, assistant professor of law at Quinnipiac.


Please go to the Juries and Justice Forum Website for more information, and for the background readings.


For details, please contact Jeffrey Meyer at jeffrey.meyer@quinnipiac.edu or 203-582-3202. Attendees should RSVP to Nicole Fernandes at nicole.fernandes@quinnipiac.edu.