When you cast your vote for Student Council representatives next month, you also will have the opportunity to vote on four amendments to the Honor constitution.
In a meeting last night, the Honor Committee discussed and voted on a proposal to change the role of Honor counsel at trial.
The Committee decided, by a vote of 17-1, to send the proposal to the student body on the spring ballot.
The honor bylaws now state that an accused student may be "represented" by counsel at trial. The proposed amendment would change the word "represented" to "assisted."
"This change gives [accused] students more of a proactive role," said Darden Rep. Tyson Toles, who voted against the proposal. "I just think the right to counsel should be absolute," given the huge consequences of a loss.
"The way it is now, counsel have way too big of a role," said Honor Committee Chairman Thomas Hall.
This will make a trial less confrontational and "more of a fact-finding mission by the panel instead of a courtroom game by a bunch of would-be lawyers," Hall said.
Before voting, Committee members also debated the current right of accused students to choose counsel from the entire student body. The Committee decided that changing the role of counsel was the more important issue and left the rest of the bylaw unchanged.
An amendment that would remove consideration of seriousness in all cases of academic fraud also will appear on the spring ballot. The Committee voted on this proposal at its last meeting but had to wait to announce to outcome until an absent representative turned in his vote.
Proposals need a two-thirds majority of the entire Committee before the student body may vote on them. College Rep. Forrest Jones' affirmative vote, turned in last Wednesday, made the tally 15-7. This close vote on such a controversial issue "probably reflects student body opinion," Hall said.
In their meeting last week, Committee members also considered two other referenda items which will appear on the ballot. These proposed changes deal with the composition of Committee members, random students on juries and the required vote for a guilty verdict.
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