Associate Justice Mark Zebrowski has filed a grievance against Senator Timothy Sullivan for attempting to sway his vote in an Undergraduate Student Government elections violations incident.
The case began in October 2015, when Andrew Stern and Zebrowski were appointed to the Undergraduate Student Government Judiciary. This appointment brought the total number of justices to an unconstitutional six . According to Article XIII, Section 2 of the USG Constitution, “The Judiciary shall consist of five Justices.”
No action was taken on the issue until former Speaker of the Senate Kevin Alvarez brought it to light, according to Zebrowski. Sullivan proposed impeachment of the newest justices, followed by renomination. In an interview with WHUS News, Zebrowski said he thought the justice case would have best been resolved by riding the current term out, and “trying to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
According to the petition Zebrowski filed February 18th, Sullivan requested to meet before the weekly Senate meeting. He asked Zebrowski about his knowledge of a currently pending case against Senator and presidential candidate Stephanie Sponzo for elections violations. The petition alleges that Sullivan would propose retaining Zebrowski when Andrew Stern was impeached, if Zebrowski would vote against hearing the Sponzo case.
“I believe that this heavily violates the integrity of our organization and disciplinary action should be taken,” wrote Zebrowski. “USG should follow procedures in an ethical way that acts within the constitution, not by attempting to force someone to side with you. This was not ethical.”
The Sponzo case was submitted by candidates for President and Vice President of USG Daniel Byrd, Irma Valverde, Eliza Conrad, and Joy Sgobbo, who claim that Stephanie Sponzo accepted an endorsement from Dr. Michael Kimmel at an event on February 16. According to the complaint, this constitutes campaigning during a USG funded event, as well as violating the spirit and integrity of the campaign.
The Senate will vote at their next meeting on the articles of impeachment for Sullivan, according to Zebrowski.