As the undergraduate student government elections draw to a
close at UCLA, a resolution is far from being established at its
fellow flagship campus, UC Berkeley.
At Berkeley, several suits were filed against the undergraduate
student government judicial council, one of which may reside in a
federal courtroom, further postponing election results.
Berkeley’s Defend Affirmative Action Party, a
pro-affirmative action slate, filed a federal lawsuit against
Berkeley’s judicial council after its 20-member slate was
disqualified from the elections when elections ended at Berkeley
two weeks ago.
The judicial council disqualified the slate when the
presidential candidate, Yvette Felarca, challenged a ruling the
council made.
Paul LaFata, a former student government member, first filed
charges against the pro-affirmative action group and CalSERVE,
another progressive slate, for violating election bylaws by
speaking at a Students for Justice and Palestine rally.
The pro-affirmative action slate attended CalSERVE’s
hearing, present with a legal adviser, Luke Massie.
During the hearing, Mike Davis, head of the judicial council,
accused Massie of badgering the witness.
Though the slate appealed the decision to hold Massie in
contempt, the judicial council decided to uphold the contempt
charge.
LaFata then filed new charges against the slate for badgering
the judicial council members.
Charging the judicial council for violations of First Amendment
rights to free speech and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due
process, members of the slate believe the political power of
minority students at Berkeley is being limited, Felarca said.
Jacob Kloberdanz, a presidential candidate running under the
slate Bears United, pointed out that the reason Berkeley has a lot
of serious disputes within student government is the fact that it
is one of the only student governments run entirely by
students.
Kloberdanz said he is upset about the way elections are being
handled this year.
“It points out the inefficiency of our government and how
long it takes for a selection to go through. … It’s an
embarrassment,” Kloberdanz said.
Defend Affirmative Action pointed out the irony of being charged
of unlawfully making a speech at a campus that is the home of the
1960s Free Speech Movement.
“This makes it particularly scandalous and ironic … but
we are sure we are going to win this,” Felarca said.
By Any Means Necessary, a national pro-affirmative action
organization, also has attorneys working closely with Defend
Affirmative Action.
Currently, the slate has been disqualified, but results from a
second judicial council hearing that took place on Saturday may
change the decision. If the decision is not reversed, the slate
will leave the case in the hands of a federal judge.
On a smaller scale, UCLA’s judicial board is facing
similar issues.
Former presidential candidate Josh Lawson filed suit against the
USAC Elections Board earlier this week, asserting the unfair
administering of sanctions during campaigning against Equal Access
Coalition candidates.
Roy Samaan, Elections Board chairman, is not convinced of the
accusations after reading Lawson’s petition.
“We went through great lengths to make sure that every
complaint filed was given a fair review,” Samaan said.