The San Francisco Superior Court yesterday issued a preliminary injunction against Associated Students, allowing 10 disqualified members of the Student Struggle slate to take office.
The preliminary injunction is effective from May 1 until a final decision can be reached through a trial. Fred Blum, Struggle's attorney, said the injunction will effectively allow the Struggle officers to serve their one-year terms because a trial would be months away at best.
Struggle President-elect Kenyan McCarthy said legal issues are still unresolved since he is now officially both a plaintiff and a defendant because the suit was filed against AS instead of individual defendants.
McCarthy and Vice President-elect Augustine Nevarez are scheduled to take the oath of office from SF State President Robert A. Corrigan today, but inauguration ceremonies for all other officers have yet to be planned.
"It's important that the student voices be heard and they have been heard," McCarthy said. "Ding, dong, the witch is dead!"
Current AS officers and members of the Unified Student Movement slate, which opposed Struggle at the polls in March, were not available for comment at presstime.
Although the injunction hearing was held last Thursday, the judge did not release a decision until yesterday, when new AS officers were scheduled to officially assume their positions. Struggle won 12 out of 22 positions in the March elections. Two of the slate's members avoided the legislature's disqualification purge because they were not officially listed as members of the slate due to filing errors.
The Struggle slate filed suit against AS, Corrigan and the CSU Board of Trustees after the AS Legislature voted April 5 to disqualify the entire slate because of charges of an elections code violation.
The charges against Struggle stemmed from two grievances filed during the elections which claimed the slate held an unauthorized forum in Mary Ward Hall's Cantina.
Struggle's suit contends that the elections code is so vague that it is unconstitutional and the legislature's disqualification violated both federal and state constitutions.
The suit also contends that AS has a history of anti-semitism and homophobia perpetuated by slates sponsored by the Progressive Coalition, a political organization of several student groups which has dominated the student government for the past 10 years.
The allegations of anti-semitism and homophobia have attracted attention from off-campus groups, including The American Jewish Congress, a national civil rights organization which is representing Struggle.
Robert Fulton, a San Jose lawyer who has represented AS at San Jose State, was hired as AS's attorney last week. Brenda Rayes of the state attorney general's office is representing Corrigan and the Board of Trustees.
"We represent Associated Students, Incorporated, not either slate," Fulton said at the hearing. "We are concerned that the process is correct, and that the process is played out in the appropriate way. I don't even know who the slates are."
About 25 supporters from both sides crowded the small courtroom at last week's hearing. Many are members of the Progressive Coalition, including students from La Raza, the General Union of Palestinian Students and the Pan Afrikan Student Union, as well as current and former officers from AS and the Student Center Governing Board. Members of Hillel and the Zionist Action Committee, both AS-funded organizations, were also present. University Police Department Officer Ron Lam and university counsel Patricia Bartscher both came as observers.
Because of the large number of people in the courtroom, an extra bailiff was assigned to keep order, according to a court clerk.
The clerk also said the judge's office was flooded with calls for three days asking whether the injunction was granted.
Judge William Cahill questioned Fulton at length about the role of the AS Judicial Court and the administration in resolving elections disputes. Cahill also pressed Fulton for a definition of a forum, since the elections code does not define the term.
When called into session, the AS Judicial Court is composed of five students and two faculty judges picked by the AS President and approved by the legislature. The court held its last session under the 1987 presidency of Lamont Coleman. New judges were never selected after Coleman was removed from office while under investigation for embezzlement.
The AS court was reduced in 1987 from a standing body to an ad-hoc committee which meets when necessary, according to AS Business Manager Peter Koo.
Fulton said Struggle's complaint should have been directed to the AS Judicial Court, which was created under the AS Constitution to resolve student complaints, and asked Cahill to let the student court or the university administration decide the case.
"You want me to hand over the complaint to a court that hasn't been in existence for eight years?" asked Cahill. "How do we know it won't take the whole year to decide?"
Blum pointed out that the AS Judicial Court has no binding authority and can only make recommendations to the AS and the administration, which have the final authority in deciding complaints.
Cahill asked Rayes if Corrigan and the Board of Trustees have an opinion about Struggle's complaint. Rayes said they have not taken a position about whether the injunction should be granted, and that the administration did not have the authority to interfere in the student government.
Cahill did not address the suit's allegations of anti-semitism or homophobia at Thursday's hearing. Blum said these issues could be pursued during a trial.