The ASUNM Student Court upheld the fines and sanctions levied on the Connection slate after the Nov. 14 student government election, according to a ruling issued Friday.
The nine members of the slate, eight of whom won Associated Students of UNM seats during the election, appealed the sanctions assessed by the Elections Commission Nov. 21.
The Elections Commission fined the members of the slate $84.50 each for campaign infractions in the wake of the election, and the winners were stripped of a $250 stipend paid to senators.
The violations included passing out fliers in the dorms — known as "dorm storming" — and removing bound copies of the Daily Lobo awaiting delivery outside newspaper offices, stuffing them with Connection fliers and distributing them to newspaper boxes.
The commission found that the slate violated campus posting rules and exceeded the campaign expenditure limits by failing to include the market value of purchasing advertising in the Daily Lobo on its expense report.
The slate challenged the sanctions Nov. 21 on the grounds that by stuffing the Lobo copies, members were not violating the UNM Student Code of Conduct's "Mall Use/Time, Place and Manner of Public Expression" clause because the act was not disorderly and did not disrupt University activity. With regard to the fine assessed for exceeding campaign-spending limits, the candidates said the Commission could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that slate members knew they would have been charged a market value for stuffing fliers in the Lobo.
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"Had any of the candidates been aware of the charges, they wouldn't have considered it," Sen. Evan Kist, who ran for reelection on the Connection slate, said during his opening statement to the court Nov. 30. He added that the Commission's assertion that the flier stuffing was disorderly conduct was unfounded. "They have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt — they failed to do so," he said.
After a lengthy explanation to the court of the complex sanctions levied by the commission, representatives for both sides questioned witnesses including several commissioners and Lobo advertising coordinator Daven Quelle during the four-hour court session.
The Connection argued that because the Lobo is a free publication, the group broke no laws when it removed and stuffed copies — thus keeping within the orderly conduct guidelines of the Code of Conduct. Quelle said during questioning that each student was entitled to one copy of the paper.
The Student Court ruling found in favor of the Elections Commission, and all sanctions and fines were upheld.
With regard to the Connection's first grounds for appeal, the court found that the defendants were able to prove that the removal of copies of the Lobo constituted disorderly conduct, thereby violating the "Mall Use/Time, Place and Manner of Public Expression" clause in the Student Code of Conduct. The code is outlined in the Pathfinder, a student handbook published yearly.
According to the court's ruling, "The key question in this issue is whether stuffing the New Mexico Daily Lobo interfered with the orderly conduct of University affairs. According to the testimony of Ms. Daven Quelle and considering submitted evidence, it is clear that the normal affairs of a University entity and its staff … were disrupted."
The Court cited another section of the Code of Conduct, which warns that students are subject to disciplinary action for violating posted University regulations or policies.
"The New Mexico Daily Lobo has published a "rate card" detailing the procedure and costs for placing fliers in the newspaper. The plaintiffs did not abide by the (paper's) policy or consult the ASUNM Elections Commission about their intent to distribute fliers in the New Mexico Daily Lobo."
Regarding the Connection candidates' claim that they did not intentionally overspend, the court cited testimony that all candidates were warned before the election that "dorm storming" and stuffing the Daily Lobo were against the rules by Student Activities Director Debbie Morris.
"By the testimony of Ms. Daven Quelle, the New Mexico Daily Lobo places a monetary value on all inserted advertisements, including political advertisements," the ruling reads. This classification would include ASUNM materials."
In upholding the fines and sanctions, the court found that the Elections Commission did not overstep its authority.
Sen. Grant Nichols, who ran on the Connection slate last year and helped represent the candidates in court, said the decision was fair, but that he wished the new senators would not lose their stipends.
"Being a senator is not a paid position and that stipend has been very helpful — it's kind of a token of appreciation for showing up every Wednesday," he said. "I know they'll do a fantastic job, and they would have earned every penny of that $250. It's already kind of a volunteer position and this provides even less incentive for them."
Chief Justice John Probasco and Associate Justices Peter Chen, Josh Ewing and John Varoz sit on the ASUNM Student Court.
