Here at the Emerald, we have a 90-year history of archives that we can examine for the sake of institutional knowledge and historical framing. Here’s a glimpse of that Emerald history with a weekly feature, giving you a look into what was happening this day in the past.
We’ll be trying to find stories and headlines inherently relevant to situations that persist today, as well as the occasional oddity we find in our past.
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Court rules on election complaints
The Constitution Court ruled that it had no authority to enforce a law that would disqualify the newly elected ASUO Executive
May 23, 1997
Thom Schoenborn@@checked@@ | Emerald archives

Twenty days after it allowed the postponed ASUO General Election to happen, the ASUO Constitution Court issued its opinion in the cases that delayed the election. The court ruled it would review all election complaints, but the elections will stand unless they find something in the complaints to overturn them.

Hilarious pull quote: “These elections are stained with a taint that cannot be rubbed off.” — then-Justice Dave Coffman@@checked@@ in his dissenting opinion.
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This story delves into an elections controversy from spring 1997 when a campaign was accused of violating Eugene law. But, as a city court had not found the group guilty, the Constitution Court said it didn’t have jurisdiction to use that to remove the president-, vice president-elect. Note the date, though — 15 years ago, the ASUO campaign was on halt through most of May. Also note a bit of awesome melodrama from Associate Justice Coffman.