Certificate of Judicial Charge Sheet

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                               JUDICIAL COUNCIL
 5              ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA
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                                                           Case No.: AN-003
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      CORINNA COHN (for herself and members of
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                                                           Order
 9    the Association collectively),

10                    Petitioner,

11           vs.

12    PRISCILLA ACOSTA (in her official capacity

13    as Speakerof the 76th Senateofthe Associated
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      Students),GRACIE GEREMIA, (in her official
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      capacity as Speakerof the 77th Senateof the
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      Associated Students,ALEJANDRA REYES (in
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      her official capacity as Secretaryof the Senate),
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      SENATE OF THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS,
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                      Respondents
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              This casearisesout of a complaint filed by the Petitioner on May 8, 2009 alleging a
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      violation of Sections6 and 7 of ASUN Public Law 75-39 in regards to the Secretaryof the
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      Senatewho signed and certified to the passageof bills which were passedbefore she was
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      appointed. Now before the Council is the Petitioner's motion for a Summary Judgment ("MS],'),
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26    which was asked for after the Respondentsfiled with the court, a statementwhereby the

27    Petitioner argues,they admitted fault. The requesthasbeen fully consideredby the Council, and

28    we will now rule on it.
     1                                      1. Factual and Procedural Historv

     2            On May 8,2009, the Petitioner filed a charge sheetalleging that the Senateof the
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         Associated Studentsand its officers, specifically the Secretaryof the Senate,had violated Section
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         6 of the Bill GovernanceAct of2008, ASl.JN Public Law 75-39; 75 ASUN Stat. 109 r which
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         reads:
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                  SEe. 6. ENROLLMENT OF BILLS; CERTIFICATE.
     8            When a bill has passedthe Senate,the Secretary of the Senate
                  shall carefully enroll the bill, taking care to ensurethat the bill accurately
     9            and exactly reflects the action of the Senate.The Secretary
                  shall affix to the back of the bill a certificate attesting to its proper
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                  enrollment, which shall be signed by the Secretary.The certificate
11                shall be in the following form: "I certify that this Act originated in the
                  Senate."
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                  The bills, numbered S.B. 76-1 through 76-19, passedthe Senateduring the period May 7,
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14       2008, to February 25,2009. The secretaryof the Senatewho certified to thesebills was not

15       appointed until March 4, 2009.

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17                Fault has been admitted by the respondents.RespondentGracie Geremia admitted in her
18       statementregarding AN-003 that "the processwas not carried out in the correct manner, as
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         described in AS1JN Public Law during the 76th sessionof Senate", she also "recognized the fault
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         placed on the Senatefor neglecting to ensurethat the legislative processwas followed correctly."
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22                                               Summary Judgment Standard
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                  Summaryjudgment allows the Council to avoid unnecessaryhearings, where no material
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         factual dispute exists. In order to grant a MSJ, the Council needsto find that there is no dispute,
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         and that the Petitioner's complaint can be addressedsimply by the facts of the case,and the law.
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                                                     2. Analvsis

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             Petitioner arguesthat Respondentsfailed to meet the requirements of ASUN Public Law
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      75-39; 75 ASUN Stat. 109. The facts of the caseare self-evident. According to the law above the
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      purpose of the Secretary's certification is to "ensure that the bill accurately and exactly reflects
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      the action ofthe senate." Since the Secretarywas not appointed until March 4 shewas not present
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  7   during the period that the bills were passed.If shewas not present she could not attest to the

  8   accuracy of the bill, the actions of the senate,or to the bill's proper enrollment. Therefore the law

  9   was violated. Furthermore, the respondenthas admitted fault in thesematters.

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                                                   3. Conclusion
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             It is very important that the senateabide by the rules that govern them. The passageof
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      new legislation is an important part of the senateduties which cannot be taken lightly. Ifbills are
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      not passedand signed correctly then they do not become law. The illegal actions taken in this
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15    casejeopardize the efforts of the senateto passnew legislation and also risk nullification of such

16    bills. A person within AS1JN cannot certify to something they do not have actual knowledge of.

17    This puts the integrity of the record at risk, and allows doubt to form about whether or not the
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      processand the law was followed. Since the Respondenthad no actual knowledge of the passage
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      of thesebills, they must be consideredvoid.
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      IT IS, THEREFORE, HEREBY ORDERED THAT Petitioner's motion for summary
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23    judgment is GRL\NTED, SenateBills, 1 through 19 are hereby declared null and void, as the

24    passagewas not properly certified. Any action that took place, or funds that were dispersedmust
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      be properly authorized, or they are to be considered illegal.
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      1   IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT this order shall be read into the minutes of the next

      2   meeting of the Senateof the Associated Studentsin order to provide the incoming and outgoing
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          Senatorsand future Senators,Speakers,and Secretariesthat they must abide fully by the Bill
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          GovernanceAct of 2008 and failure to do so will have consequences.
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                 DATED: March       ~      ,2010
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                                                             \'J,-lt~'r)ac\C\t(       lLLO
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                                                             As~5cIA J6s~~~
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                                                             A~ICE
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