In a major victory, a Chicano/Chicana student group was granted another chance at segregated-fee funding eligibility as Associated Students of Madison Student Judiciary ruled that the group had been unfairly discriminated against by the Student Services Finance Committee in several viewpoint-neutrality and procedural infractions.

ASM chair Bryan Gadow used the ruling in favor of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan and today’s ruling in the Southworth case as evidence that “if decisions are made in a non-viewpoint-neutral manner, they can be fixed.”

Under Student Judiciary’s ruling, SSFC Reps. Ryan Nichols and Drew Horn were issued warnings for non-malicious violations of viewpoint-neutrality. Rep. Mark Baumgardner received the sternest penalty and was removed from the SSFC for a malicious violation of viewpoint-neutrality.

Also, Chair Roman Patzner was ordered to draft a bylaw in order to prevent a reoccurrence of a procedural error.

Student Judiciary found that its actions were necessary and that “to do otherwise would be an insult to justice and destabilize the entire system of viewpoint-neutrality.”

Baumgardner’s comment during MEChA’s initial hearing, “I think MEChA’s newsletter is demonstrative of the fact that all viewpoints are not welcome within the group, and it’s further demonstrative that the group may be racist,” was found by the judiciary to be malicious and interpretive.

The judiciary also stated one newsletter could not be considered to represent the entire viewpoint of MEChA.

The group said a slap on the wrist was inappropriate to any individual maliciously discriminating against an organization and specifically passed down a stiff sentence on Baumgardner in the interests of all student organizations.

Horn was warned for taking the newsletter poem into account in his final decision.

Nichols was also given a warning for his concerns that MEChA’s primary purpose is to serve Chicano/Chicana students and that relatively few others are served.

Using the example of the group Vets for Vets, which was approved for student funding, the court ruled that if an organization has a primary focus that applies to a minority group on campus, this is not a reason to deny funding.

Patzner was criticized for failing to collect written evaluations from SSFC members after the eligibility voting. However, the court went on to say this action was unintentional and that Patzner quickly went on to remedy the procedural error.

Patzner remains near the center of the debate.

“I hope that as a committee member he will call people out when they’re not being viewpoint-neutral,” Rep. Faith Kurtyka said.

MEChA will be entitled to a new eligibility hearing in front of the ASM student council Oct. 3.

MEChA co-chair Darrell Balderrama said the organization was very pleased with the appeals process, especially the Student Judiciary’s decision to remove Baumgardner from office.

“It’s sad that certain members were elected who could not maintain viewpoint neutrality,” Balderrama said. “It’s my hope that other groups won’t be subjected to the same viewpoint-neutral violations.”

Not all SSFC members agreed with the rulings.

“That’s ridiculous,” Horn said when first told about the rulings. “That shows that any group that doesn’t get their way can by going behind our backs to the Student Judiciary. That raises some questions about the true validity of neutrality in the Student Judiciary. I totally disagree with it.”

SSFC vice chair Jason Davis sided differently.

“I believe this determination made by the ASM was correct in that it weighed the evidence and acted in a way prescient to the bylaws and constitution,” he said. “It’s evident that certain members did not follow these rules. I would hope in the future that members will take this decision into accordance.”

When asked about today’s decisions, Kurtyka said, “It just shows we have a great process.”

Balderrama agreed that the proceedings showed that the checks and balances within ASM are working, although he hopes similar controversies could be bypassed in the future.

“All of these appeals are taking away from our outreach to the students we serve,” Balderrama said. “It’s just a waste of time.”