Honor Committee members discussed a possible change in the Committee's by-laws dealing with conflicts of interest of Committee members, honor advisors and counsel.
Conflicts of interest include any situation in which an Honor Committee member, advisor or counsel has reported the case in question or had the case in question reported against him or her. Conflicts of interest also include situations in which Honor members have material information about the case in question or have had a significant prior relationship with the reporter, the accused or a material witness in a case, according to the proposed change.
Any accused student who is aware of such conflicts and proceeds with a case will waive his or her right to use conflict of interest as grounds for appeal of an honor conviction, the proposal states.
The code of ethics passed by the Committee in November would not allow any counsel who had a prior relationship with a student to represent an accused student, Committee Chair David Hobbs said.
"This says it's alright as long as a student is OK with it thus allowing students to choose," Hobbs said. "We're putting it on the support officers to come forward and say 'I can't take this case objectively.'"
Not all support officers are in favor of the wording, which waives a student's right to appeal because students may not understand how the change affects their right to appeal.
"Students may say, 'I didn't understand I was waiving this right,'" senior counsel Matt Nicholson said. "They are going to de facto waive this right. I say just let them appeal on these grounds and let the appeal fail."
Other support officers expressed concerns of students waiving rights, according to Vice Chair for Investigations Lauren Ross.
Ross suggested that providing additional paperwork for involved students may present a solution to the concerns expressed by the support officers.
"What if we just had everybody sign something to allay these fears?" Ross asked.
Students are currently denied counsel based on conflict of interest "probably a couple of times a semester," according to Vice Chair for Trials Stewart Ackerly.
Vice Chair for Services Trevor McFadden expressed concern about the way the proposed change might affect the appeal process.
"This addition is just a way for denying an avenue of appeal," McFadden said.
The proposal can be reworded after consultation with the Committee's lawyers, according to Hobbs.
The Committee will vote on the proposed change next Sunday night.
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