The University Judiciary Committee met to conduct a training on sanctioning and complete its annual census during the general body meeting Sunday. The Committee also did some general housekeeping such as asking new members to sign up for the Committee’s mock trial week, which begins Nov. 6.
Anna Prillaman, vice chair for sanctions and third-year College student, oversaw a training focused on understanding the overall purpose of the Committee’s multi-sanction system to help judges craft sanctions that further the Committee's mission to promote safety, respect and freedom on Grounds.
Sanctions are decided by a panel of judges, which is made up entirely of Committee members. After a trial for sanctions, judges send sanctions they craft to Prillaman, who ultimately ensures sanctions are completed. Sanctions can range from an oral admonition to expulsion from the University.
Prillaman said that sanctions should be attuned to the nuances of the specific violation that they are intended to address, while also upholding the Committee’s guiding principles.
“You want the sanctions to be intentional and justifiable,” Prillaman said.
As an exercise, Prillaman had the Committee break into groups and craft sanctions for various scenarios. These scenarios gave Committee members an opportunity to work through unique mock cases and work together to decide what the best sanctions would be.
Through their guiding principles, which can be found on their website, the Committee as a whole works to prioritize education over punitive measures when granting sanctions to ensure that the accused truly learn from their actions. However, Prillaman mentioned that sometimes punitive measures are necessary depending on the nature of the case.
“That does not mean that we never give punitive sanctions,” Prillaman said. “It just means we're really careful about choosing when we want to do that.”
Committee members also completed the census form at the Sunday meeting. Demographic data collected from the census will be publicly available on the UJC website Nov. 1, after internal analysis of the data is completed.
The Executive Committee also asked new members to sign up for mock trial week, which begins Nov 6. According to Lisa Kopelnik, UJC chair and third-year College student, mock trial week is a week of practice trials and cases that allows new Committee members to take on the roles they have been training for during the semester.
The Committee will meet in the Newcomb Trial Room Nov. 5 for the next general body meeting.
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