Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wayward dissent
There was a wayward dissent on the case allowing the Senate to meet while waiting for the recall. Joseph Guzmán points out something that didn't make much sense in the majority opinion, which is that there's no conflict between delaying the election and preventing the Senate from meeting:
The majority opinion argues that the procedures to deal with the situation we are faced with are not clearly outlined by the Constitution alone and that in such cases, the By-Laws are expressly allowed to "supplement" them pursuant to Article X, Section 1 of the ASUC Constitution. They then use this claim to justify voiding the "two Senate meeting" requirement outlined in the Constitution. Title IV, Article XVII, Section 17.4.6 of the By-Laws explains that "if the Judicial Council voids an election, the Senate shall provide for a new election to be held within four full semester weeks." The majority argues that the mention of a "new election" implies that any requirements of the "old election-" specifically the two Senate meeting requirement- are voided along with the actual election.
It is my opinion that the majority extends the use of the By-Laws well beyond their original intent. As I have shown above, there is no inherent contradiction between the four-week By-Law requirement and the two Senate meeting Constitutional requirement. Thus, I do not see why it is even necessary to mention the relationship between the By-Laws and the Constitution. They claim that this situation is not made clear by the Constitution, but I am forced to wonder exactly what is unclear. Again, both the two Senate meeting requirement and the four week requirement may be implemented without any conflict. In my opinion, this is not a case of confusion, but a rather clear case where the By-Laws supplement the Constitution by expanding and supplying more information on the Constitutional clause. I am persuaded to think that the majority opinion elevates the role of the By-Laws well beyond their Constitutional function to “supplement the Constitution.” The majority opinion seems to employ the By-Laws as a replacement to the Constitution.
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