After the Student Judiciary delivered its decision on a case involving the Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group’s funding eligibility, a leader of the student government moved to impeach a justice involved in the case.
Student Services Finance Committee Chair Matt Manes began the process of impeaching Vice Chief Justice Tim Hogan after the Student Judiciary ordered SSFC to hold another General Student Services Fund eligibility hearing for WISPIRG.
WISPIRG was denied eligibility for GSSF funding last semester after SSFC concluded University of Wisconsin students were not the primary beneficiaries of the group’s program, and therefore the group did not meet the criteria for eligibility.
WISPIRG appealed SSFC’s decision to the Student Judiciary and was granted another eligibility hearing.
SSFC denied WISPIRG funding eligibility for the second time in February despite the group’s efforts to prove University of Wisconsin students were the primary beneficiaries of their direct service, which they defined as experiential learning.
WISPIRG appealed SSFC’s decision to the Student Judiciary again and was granted a rehearing on Wednesday after the panel found SSFC unreasonably interpreted some of its direct service criteria, Hogan said in an email to The Badger Herald.
“The panel concluded that the only way SSFC could have arrived at its conclusions (…) was either through an unreasonable interpretation or inconsistent application [of its criteria],” Hogan said.
WISPIRG Chair Rashi Mangalick said she was pleased with the Student Judiciary’s decision.
“We are really excited that the Student Judiciary ruled in our favor and remanded our decision back to SSFC,” Mangalick said in an email to The Badger Herald. “We provide a lot of great opportunities for students to get involved and we want to continue to be able to provide these services.”
Manes said he has no intention of holding another GSSF eligibility hearing for WISPIRG and will appeal the Student Judiciary’s decision in addition to working to impeach Hogan.
Manes sent his petition to impeach Hogan to the Associated Students of Madison Chair Brandon Williams on Wednesday along with the requisite of one-third of the names of student council representatives, according to the petition.
In the petition, Manes said the Student Judiciary has misunderstood evidence provided or overstepped their bounds in their findings and rulings in the majority of the cases brought in front of the panel involving WISPIRG and Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow.
Hogan has been involved in drafting many of the decisions, and his demeanor and questioning during hearings makes him “the root of these problems,” Manes wrote in the petition.
Manes is charging Hogan specifically with failure to fully understand the cases that appeared in front of the panel and improper conduct during proceedings through failure to provide associate justices with the respondent’s brief during one hearing and not recording the CFACT rehearing.
“I think this is warranted,” Manes said in an interview with The Badger Herald. “I made it no secret that if [the Student Judiciary] kept overstepping their bounds (…) I would take action, and I did.”
Hogan said in all cases involving WISPIRG and CFACT the panel’s decisions have been fair and supported by well-reasoned analysis.
Hogan’s impeachment hearing will be held during next week’s student council meeting.
