Case adds to storied history

Outspoken members of Carolina Review, the University’s conservative student-run publication, sued top student government officials 10 years ago when their funding request was denied.

The suit called into action the Student Supreme Court, a once-thriving component of student government. It’s responsible for interpreting the Student Code — the document outlining the rules for the branches of student government and some groups that receive funding from Student Congress.

The Court ruled that the politically partisan magazine could not receive University funding — a decision later changed after a ruling in a U.S. Supreme Court case.

“It represented a very sophisticated use of the Student Supreme Court,” said Cal Cunningham, who served as chief justice of the court from 1997 until 1999.

During the next four years, at least 12 cases were brought before the Student Supreme Court. But the body hasn’t made a decision since 1999, when it took on a dispute about graduate student votes in Residence Hall Association elections.

Often, the threat of taking a case to the court is enough for the defendant to settle — which might have contributed to the court’s downtime.

“I hope that it’s indicative of students resolving their conflicts without needing to resort to the courts,” Cunningham said.

When a Congress member sued the Carolina Athletic Association this week, student government officials were forced to dust cobwebs off relatively unknown Supreme Court procedures.

But those procedures won’t be employed, because the case was dismissed Thursday night.

The court comprises a chief justice and six associate justices, all full-time UNC students appointed by the student body president and confirmed by a two-thirds vote of Congress.

UNC students can bring cases before the court based on the invalidity or illegality of an act by members of student government — including Congress and the executive branch — as well as the RHA, Graduate and Professional Student Federation, CAA and other recognized organizations that receive funds from Congress.

Students also can dispute the acts, decisions and rulings of the campus Board of Elections. Some in student government speculated that the disputed 2004 student body president runoff between Matt Calabria and Lily West could have gone to the court, but the elections board was able to resolve the race.

The Supreme Court heard Honor Code-related cases from its inception in 1968 until sometime between 1976 and 1994. The exact date that the court became exclusively one of original jurisdiction is unclear, according to the Reporter of the Student Supreme Court from 1999.

The Reporter offers a concise but comprehensive look at the history of the Court. It summarizes rulings and provides opinions from involved parties.

“It’s inspiring how students have taken on leadership,” said Cunningham, who helped compose the document. “The Student Supreme Court is an important part of that history of self-governance.”

He said he hopes the Reporter will help the court in future rulings because it is filled with precedents.

This week’s case involved complaints against the CAA regarding the number of men’s basketball tickets allocated to members.

Student Attorney General Carolina Chavez, who represented the CAA, said she was surprised when she learned of the case.

“It’s such a late date on an issue that has already been addressed all year by the University community and continues to be addressed,” she said.

Cunningham said the Student Supreme Court is essential to continuing the University’s ideals.

“There needs to be a student organization that decides disputes,” he said. “It’s part of our great history at Chapel Hill of student self-governance.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.