The 76th Associated Students Senate considered a bill that would restructure the Judicial Council by adding a subcommittee at its May 6 meeting. The Senate also heard from the Legal Resource Center.
The LRC provides around 950 consultations per year and runs a student intern program that takes 10-15 students per quarter. Shengyu Zhang / Daily Nexus
Public forum
The Associated Students (A.S.) Legal Resource Center (LRC) lawyers Jessica Anticouni and Robin Unander updated senators on their work this year. The LRC provides around 950 consultations per year and runs a student intern program that takes 10-15 students per quarter. Unander explained that they assist students with a multitude of legal matters, including tenants’ rights, minor alcohol and drug infractions, driving-under-the-influence violations, noise complaints, family law and immigration law. She encouraged the Senate to inform the community about all of the different services the LRC can provide.
Reports
Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life Suzanne Perkin announced that the Office of the President has opened a public comment period on revisions to Policies Applying to Campus Activities, Organizations and Students (PACAOS) Appendix H, the policy on student conduct and discipline, which will be open until June 11.
Valentina Paez, second-year political science and economics double major and Strategic Operations Office (SOO) outreach coordinator, raised concerns over her office’s possible removal from A.S. legal code. Paez discussed their primary project, the Strategic Vision plan, an interactive dashboard that will allow students to track initiatives in real time. She also mentioned their iPads for Equity program, which provides over 200 loaner iPads to students every quarter. In addition, the SOO has worked to provide Grammarly Premium to all students, accessible transportation across campus, Basic Needs vending machines and several other services.
Next, outgoing Student Advocate General and fourth-year psychological & brain sciences major Sydney Bivins shared updates on a bill that would transfer authority over Policy 1, abusive conduct and bullying violations, from the Judicial Council (JC) to her office. The bill was referred to the liaison committee.
JC chairs, fourth-year statistics and data science major Harriet Jackson and fourth-year political science and philosophy double major Josie Penix, spoke out against the proposed Boards, Committees and Units (BCU) Adjudication Act of 2026. The bill calls for the creation of a new sub-judicial council made specifically to handle cases in which a BCU is alleged to have acted in a way that does not follow its mission statement.
Penix argued that it has never been the case that a sub-judicial council has been delegated with enough work to be necessary in her four years of experience on the JC. She also stated that although an appellate court system made sense in theory, in practice, any negative decision would always be appealed by a BCU. This would result in the same amount of work for the original JC, rendering the sub-judicial council a waste of time and resources.
Senators and authors of the bill, fourth-year history and global studies double major Neo Harter and first-year physics major Alec GeoSimonian, responded to the criticism. Both GeoSimonian and Harter asserted that the legislation was intended to remedy the lack of clear rules on when honoraria can be docked and what constitutes a violation serious enough to warrant removal from office. The bill was ultimately referred to the executive committee.
A.S. President and fourth-year global studies, communication and Spanish triple major Le Anh Metzger plans to put Santa Rosa Residence Hall’s NARCAN cabinets in the Main A.S. Office and the University Center, after the hall closes for construction.
Legislation proposed
Next, First President Pro Tempore and second-year political science major Evan Sussman proposed a bill to update the internal funding policies of the association. If passed, the bill would clearly state that registered campus organizations, which are not A.S. entities, can only request money from the Senate Unallocated account as a last resort for campus-wide events. The bill was referred to the executive committee.
Sussman then proposed a bill to consolidate inactive and replicative BCUs. If passed, A.S. could cut the Chief Operations Office, Environmental Justice Alliance, Commission on Marginalized Genders, Alternative Transportation Unit, Jewish Commission and Commission for Students Against Sexual Assault. The bill was referred to the liaison committee.
Next, Senator and second-year political science major Erica Sherkin proposed a bill that would revise the office of the A.S. president’s legal code, which would add a Basic Needs commissioner position. The bill was referred to the advocacy committee.
Legislation passed
The Senate adopted a bill that updates Raices De Mi Tierra’s legal code to expand their mission statement to support undocumented students.
“Raices is committed to providing legal resources for undocumented, mixed-status, or students affected by discriminatory policies and actions,” the bill read.
Next, the Senate adopted a bill to update standing Policy 22, which outlines clear procedures for food expenditures to combat overspending within the Association, specifically prohibiting entities buying food for meetings under three hours.
Financial allocations
The Senate reallocated $1,400 from the Community Volunteer Foundation, which is inactive, to the Student Homes Coalition to fund travel for an upcoming lobby day.
Finally, the Senate replenished the finance committee’s spring quarter fund with $70,000 from the A.S. reserves account.
A version of this article appeared on p. 5 of the May 14 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
