The JC found in favor of Sanchez by a 3-2 vote. The majority found Ghazal's attendance policy, under which a senator must be removed from the senate after accumulating the equivalent of three absences, unconstitutional, although the senate voted to give the vice president this power at their meeting on Monday. The JC voted to reinstate Sanchez to the senate.
Sanchez was removed from the AAS due to this attendance policy. He contended that the policy had been expanded from the original wording of the AAS constitution, making the policy unconstitutional. Sanchez argued that if the policy was unconstitutional, his dismissal from the senate was invalid.
Following the hearing, during which Sanchez and Ghazal expressed their own arguments, the JC deliberated the constitutionality of Ghazal's attendance policy. JC members on the senate and the JC chair were not permitted to vote. Tarun Menon '05 and Amrit Amirapu '05 were appointed by the JC chair to participate in the hearing.
Ceridwen Cherry '06, Menon and Jessica Rothschild '06 voted to reinstate Sanchez to the senate. "While the vice president is responsible for '[maintaining] an attendance and voting record for all members of the AAS, this is distinct from creating an attendance or tardy policy," they wrote in their majority statement. "We find an absence to be clearly defined as failing to attend," they continued.
The majority rejected Ghazal's idea of a half-absence, constituted by a senator's arrival to a meeting more than fifteen minutes late or departure from a meeting prior to its completion.
Sanchez was pleased with the ruling. "I hope the ruling will clear things up for future vice presidents and prevent any more illicit removals," he said after the JC announced its decision.
Ghazal found problems with the decision. As vice president, Ghazal is responsible for ensuring that a quorum of senators is present to conduct votes on items like the weekly funding allocations and proposed amendments.
Ghazal attributed the majority decision to the lack of understanding regarding the importance of maintaining a quorum. "Due to an apparent lack of understanding, and probably more aptly, ignorance, of Robert's Rules [of Order], the majority opinion of the Judiciary Council wholly ignores consideration of this crucial fact," he explained.
Amirapu and Erin Mariano '06 voted in Ghazal's favor. They indicated their belief that the constitution was not meant to be taken literally, especially considering that, under the majority opinion, a senator would be counted as present even if he or she missed most of the meeting. "We feel that it is reasonable and necessary that ... the vice president has the ability to enforce an attendance policy," they wrote.
They also noted that since the senate abides by Robert's Rules, it is permitted to overrule any decision made exclusively by the vice president.