Spring Break
ASCSU bill bans anonymity in all campaign complaints
Madeline Novey
Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: News
Student government passed legislation last week that prevents any person from submitting an anonymous election complaint against a particular campaign to the Elections Committee to inject more transparency into the complaint process.
Supporters of the bill said future campaigns receiving complaint will now have better understanding of their criticisms, enabling them a more solid defense in grievance cases.
But they also acknowledged that the policy could deter people from submitting complaints for fear of retribution.
"The reason people don't like to file (complaints) is because when they want a position in the cabinet next year they don't want that to come back," said Zane Guilfoyle, the 2009 Elections Committee manager for the Associated Students of CSU, who submitted the measure, but acknowledged that there are pros and cons to it.
The newly elected ASCSU president and vice president are responsible in the spring for hiring their cabinet -- which includes the chief of staff and director positions -- and Guilfoyle said bad blood between them and plaintiffs could lead to hiring biases.
Andrew Ives and Jordan Von Bokern, the two intra-university senators who wrote the legislation, said the original bill was written to provide the accused with unedited complaint text but that anonymity was to be maintained.
After sitting in on the majority of Elections Committee complaint hearings, Ives and Von Bokern said they thought defendants should be able to see the filed complaint in its original form so they could present a fair and reasonable defense and have more context to do so.
"I saw at least that some of the (defendants) weren't necessarily prepared because they didn't know what the complaint said," Ives said. "They knew the location of the violation and what they violated."
Ives did not support the amendment, but Von Bokern did, saying he was "very pleasantly surprised" the bill passed 15-1-7.
In "U.S. criminal court you have the right to be faced by your accuser," he said.
Supporters of the bill said future campaigns receiving complaint will now have better understanding of their criticisms, enabling them a more solid defense in grievance cases.
But they also acknowledged that the policy could deter people from submitting complaints for fear of retribution.
"The reason people don't like to file (complaints) is because when they want a position in the cabinet next year they don't want that to come back," said Zane Guilfoyle, the 2009 Elections Committee manager for the Associated Students of CSU, who submitted the measure, but acknowledged that there are pros and cons to it.
The newly elected ASCSU president and vice president are responsible in the spring for hiring their cabinet -- which includes the chief of staff and director positions -- and Guilfoyle said bad blood between them and plaintiffs could lead to hiring biases.
Andrew Ives and Jordan Von Bokern, the two intra-university senators who wrote the legislation, said the original bill was written to provide the accused with unedited complaint text but that anonymity was to be maintained.
After sitting in on the majority of Elections Committee complaint hearings, Ives and Von Bokern said they thought defendants should be able to see the filed complaint in its original form so they could present a fair and reasonable defense and have more context to do so.
"I saw at least that some of the (defendants) weren't necessarily prepared because they didn't know what the complaint said," Ives said. "They knew the location of the violation and what they violated."
Ives did not support the amendment, but Von Bokern did, saying he was "very pleasantly surprised" the bill passed 15-1-7.
In "U.S. criminal court you have the right to be faced by your accuser," he said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jeff
posted 4/28/09 @ 1:05 AM MST
I imagine this will be challenged-- although the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment does guarantee the right of "the accused" to face his accuser, one of the most protected elements of the First Amendment is the right to anonymous, political speech; mix that in with the right to file grievances with the government and you have a pretty compelling argument to get this overturned. (Continued…)
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