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UJC expands jurisdiction

The Board of Visitors voted Friday to change the Standards of Conduct of the University Judiciary Committee.

The change, which was announced to the UJC Sunday, is mainly one of jurisdiction, UJC Chair Angela Carrico said.

As of Friday afternoon, jurisdiction of Standards No. 2 and 9 of the UJC's Standards of Conduct was expanded to the City of Charlottesville or Albemarle County.

Under the new Standards, any conduct which threatens the health or safety of any person, or causes substantial damage to University-owned or leased property anywhere in the City or the County can be prosecuted by the UJC.

"It makes students responsible for dangerous conduct around the University community," UJC Issues Subcommittee Co-Chair Josh Sear said.

According to Carrico, the Standards were changed in an effort to help clarify jurisdiction in cases taking place near, but not directly on, University property.

In 2001 the Board of Visitors voted to expand the jurisdiction of Standard No. 1 of the UJC's Standards of Conduct to cover the City and County.

According to Carrico, Standards No. 2 and 9 did not present a problem at that time and were not changed.

"Back then, we were getting very few DUI cases," Carrico said.

DUI is a special concern because although it endangers University students, many streets are not University-owned.

Although Carrico said she anticipates the change will help clarify certain cases, she does not expect the number of UJC trials to increase dramatically as a result of the altered standards.

"I'd say we might get two to three more cases per semester, if that," Carrico said.

The UJC has been working on the change to the Standards for more than a year.

Members of the UJC presented their proposal to the BOV last Thursday to be voted on by the full Board Friday. Only the BOV has the power to change UJC standards of conduct.

The BOV voted unanimously for the change.

"We thought that they were good improvements to the existing standards," BOV Vice Rector Thomas Farrell said. "We will continue to fine-tune the standards as recommendations come to us."

According to Sear, there was little opposition within the UJC to the changes, which voted unanimously for the changes.

Although the new Standards are in place, the UJC will not begin prosecuting students under the revised Standards until students are fully aware of the changes.

"We are not going to start using the new standards until Vice President Lampkin sends out an email to the students," Sear said.

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