The Undergraduate Student Congress unanimously passed three pieces of legislation, two of which appointed new members to the Student Government Association’s judicial branch during its meeting Tuesday evening.
SGA President Zack Lissau presented an act seeking to appoint four OU Law students to the Superior Court. He also presented an act nominating a first-year law student to be election commissioner following the exit of 2021-22 Election Commissioner Isaac Kabrick.
Parliamentarian Abby Halsey-Kraus said the election commissioner oversees the enforcement provisions of Title VI of the Code Annotated and ensures all SGA elections fall under proper guidelines.
The Superior Court, she said, is in charge of upholding the SGA constitution and being the final review for any actions which arise under the acts of the legislative branch and the constitution.
Lissau nominated first-year law student Layni Thompson for election commissioner due to her previous experience as parliamentarian at Oklahoma State University’s SGA. He said she expressed an enthusiasm to familiarize herself with the SGA bylaws and had ample time to allocate for SGA, even as a first-year student.
“We looked for a demonstrated eagerness to serve the election commission and for a desire to serve the institution as a whole and to the student body, which she most definitely did,” Lissau said.
Thompson said she was excited to get involved on a new campus, whether it be through law school or campus at large. She said she would prioritize communication during her tenure with both election candidates and the rest of the student body.
“I would just make sure that I would offer a lot of time for the candidates to come to me with any concerns they had,” Thompson said. “I really want to offer more of my time. ... I (want to) address concerns up front.”
Lissau also nominated Angela Powers, Renner Howell, Crispin South and Erick Morales Sartillo to be appointed to the Superior Court as justices. Of the nominees, South is the only one with previous experience with SGA, as he served as the former congress chair.
He said it was extremely important they found candidates who were interested in judiciary experience and wanted to thrive in a legal atmosphere.
Representative Clayton Chiariello spoke on his bill — his first piece of legislation — which sought to update the definition of the External Affairs Committee in the congress bylaws to include tribal governance as part of their responsibilities.
Both of Lissau’s acts move to the Graduate Student Senate for further deliberation. As a congressional resolution, Chiariello’s bill does not need to be seen by GSS after its passage.
