The Constitutional Council will hold pre-trial proceedings for the case Park v. Steffel et. al. before a public hearing set for either April 8 or 9, according to a Sunday email from Chief Justice Jane Wang (22C) to the parties in the case.
The case was initiated by a petition from Fourth-year College Council (CC) Legislator Sun Woo Park (19Ox, 21C) Sunday afternoon, which featured a 28-page report and 88 pieces of evidence.
He alleged that Student Government President (SGA) Lori Steffel (21B), BBA Council President Emily Ferguson (21B) and BBA Council Vice President-elect Katie Lee (22B) violated the SGA Code of Elections in campaigning for the joint candidacy of Rhea Kumar (22B) and Nick Paschetto (20Ox, 22B) for SGA president and vice president.
Park alleged that Steffel and Ferguson are members of the Elections Board and claimed that they violated the Code of Elections by endorsing Kumar and Paschetto while sitting Board members. Park also alleged that Lee violated the Code by campaigning for Kumar and Paschetto while also running for office.
Steffel and Ferguson separately denied that they are members of the Elections Board on March 28.
Park also accused the Kumar and Paschetto campaign of ignoring Elections Board directions to stop sending mass texts soliciting votes from students.
Wang set the initial date of the hearing for either April 8 or 9. The official date for the case will be decided by April 1, based on the availability of the defendants and the plaintiff. Steffel, Ferguson, Lee, Kumar and Paschetto have until the end of Wednesday, March 31 to submit their responses to Park’s allegations along with any evidence.
These responses will be sent to Park who will then be allowed to submit a rebuttal, provide additional evidence, as well as a list of witnesses. The rebuttal and additional evidence will be sent to the defendants who will likewise be allowed to rebut Park’s arguments and submit further evidence and a list of witnesses.
All materials for the hearing will be submitted by the end of Sunday, April 4. The Council decided that evidence from anonymous sources will be accepted. This evidence will be vetted by SGA Attorney General Ryan Murray (19Ox, 21C), but the identity of the anonymous witnesses will not be revealed to the public.
Wang also clarified the rules for the proceedings, which include eight-minute opening statements from each side. The plaintiff and the defendants will be able to call witnesses for both direct and cross-examination. The Council will then be allowed to pose questions to both sides.
The hearing will take place over a Zoom webinar and will be broadcast live for public viewing. All case materials will be made public to those who request them after the hearing.
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