The ASUO Constitution Court released four rulings Wednesday, less than a day after an ASUO senator threatened the court with removal from office for postponing verdicts.
The court threw out 11 of the 13 grievances filed Nov. 20 against Sen. Nathan Perley by EMU Board Chair Michelle Haley and approved three documents submitted by the ASUO Senate.
“I just want my constituents to know that I’m not guilty,” Perley said. “I just want to stay on Senate and keep serving the business school.”
The court offered Haley more time to submit information on the remaining grievances, in which she alleged that Perley had created the proposed operating budget for the next ASUO Senate unilaterally and that Perley had not, as required, attended a retreat for ASUO Senators. Haley said she would submit more information to the court.
The rulings came amidst concerns about the court’s efficiency from others within student government.
“It has come to the attention of the ASUO Student Senate that the ASUO Constitution Court is abusing their power in regards to various rullings (sic),” ASUO Sen. Derek Nix wrote in an e-mail sent to the court Tuesday.
Nix listed five cases over which he felt the court had taken undue time and expressed concern about the court’s timeliness in releasing verdicts. He then mentioned an ASUO rule that gives the ASUO president and Senate power to remove members of the court.
“The Student Senate will consider this process if the court does not release opinions within a reasonable time period,” Nix wrote.
Constitution Court members insisted Nix’s message had nothing to do with the timing of the verdicts. Associate justice Eric Blaine said the court had reached the verdicts on Jan. 22 and the timing was a coincidence.
“There’s no way to really tell,” Nix said.
Associate justice Kevin Parks said the court worked efficiently. He attributed the ASUO’s impatience to confusion caused by the School of Law’s schedule, which runs on a different calendar than the undergraduate program.
“The judiciary had been sort of an easy target for those with more of a political economy that they’re concerned with. It’s easy to take potshots,” Parks said.
Court members said busy schedules make it difficult for them to meet. Parks said the court’s chief justice, Shon Bogar, lives in Portland, where he works for the Clackamas County district attorney. Parks said Bogar’s living situation presents problems for the court. Many within other branches of the ASUO expressed concern about Bogar’s performance on the court.
“In my time in student government, I have never worked with someone as pompous and insecure as Chief Justice Shon Bogar,” ASUO President Sam Dotters-Katz said after a Jan. 15 hearing before the court.
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