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Student senator approved to fill justice vacancy
Karl Mourfy was unanimously appointed by fellow senators
by Mark Noack | Freelance Reporter |
With two Constitution Court seats open, the Student Senate voted Wednesday to approve a fellow senator joining the court, while rejecting another appointee after he demonstrated a shaky grasp of student government procedures.
Sophomore Zach Basaraba faced tough scrutiny by Sen. Erica Reiko Anderson who asked him about his knowledge of the Clark Document - the guidelines for allocating incidental fee funds.
Basaraba was unfamiliar with specifics.
"I don't know detail for detail how to operate, but I know what's acceptable and what's not," he said.
Basaraba had further trouble responding to the questions concerning the role of a non-political judiciary and his views on coming to judicial decisions.
After delivering a series of questions, Sen. Athan Papailiou expressed doubt in Basaraba's ability to serve. Put to a vote, eight senators declined to approve his appointment.
The other executive appointee for the student court, Sen. Karl Mourfy, was unanimously approved by his fellow senators to join the court. A current senator and law student, Mourfy agreed to resign immediately as senator to avoid a conflict with his new role as a court justice.
In their questioning of Mourfy, many senators drew from the issues raised by the Constitution Court's recent decision to remove then Senate President Sara Hamilton. That decision - the result of a grievance filed by Anderson accusing Hamilton of not distributing the agenda on time on numerous occasions - ultimately forced Hamilton out of her Senate seat and led to a tense April 18 Senate meeting.
During that meeting Mourfy questioned why Anderson had not brought up this issue to Hamilton before taking it to the court. After the meeting, Mourfy resigned his Senate seat in protest of Hamilton's removal but then rescinded his resignation later, saying there was "a need to think of the collective interests of students."
Asked on Wednesday by Sen. Jeremy Ebner about his steps as a judge to reach a decision, Mourfy made indirect reference to Hamilton's ouster.
Sophomore Zach Basaraba faced tough scrutiny by Sen. Erica Reiko Anderson who asked him about his knowledge of the Clark Document - the guidelines for allocating incidental fee funds.
Basaraba was unfamiliar with specifics.
"I don't know detail for detail how to operate, but I know what's acceptable and what's not," he said.
Basaraba had further trouble responding to the questions concerning the role of a non-political judiciary and his views on coming to judicial decisions.
After delivering a series of questions, Sen. Athan Papailiou expressed doubt in Basaraba's ability to serve. Put to a vote, eight senators declined to approve his appointment.
The other executive appointee for the student court, Sen. Karl Mourfy, was unanimously approved by his fellow senators to join the court. A current senator and law student, Mourfy agreed to resign immediately as senator to avoid a conflict with his new role as a court justice.
In their questioning of Mourfy, many senators drew from the issues raised by the Constitution Court's recent decision to remove then Senate President Sara Hamilton. That decision - the result of a grievance filed by Anderson accusing Hamilton of not distributing the agenda on time on numerous occasions - ultimately forced Hamilton out of her Senate seat and led to a tense April 18 Senate meeting.
During that meeting Mourfy questioned why Anderson had not brought up this issue to Hamilton before taking it to the court. After the meeting, Mourfy resigned his Senate seat in protest of Hamilton's removal but then rescinded his resignation later, saying there was "a need to think of the collective interests of students."
Asked on Wednesday by Sen. Jeremy Ebner about his steps as a judge to reach a decision, Mourfy made indirect reference to Hamilton's ouster.
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