On Friday, an email was sent out to the student body regarding a new proposal for an Article IV amendment to the constitution of the Student Union, which would clarify the role of the Judiciary within the Union. A student-wide vote will be held on Wednesday regarding the changes.

The amendment proposes ten distinct changes that serve to emphasize the exact role of the Judiciary members, as well as the process of hearings. The first three proposed changes serve to highlight the role of the judicial powers, including explicitly stating that the role of the Judiciary is to “preside over cases brought to the Union,” act as “constitutional consultants” for Union members and keep in constant communication with other branches of the Union.

A significant change to Article IV is adding in and clarifying the role of a Public Defender during a trial or judicial hearing, which is listed under “Section 4” of the article. The section states that a public defender will be an available option for an accused party and will be responsible for the “review of evidence collected, collection of additional evidence, and representation of the accused during a hearing.” It also states that the Chief Justice of the Judiciary can appoint a new public defender if the original public defender cannot carry out his or her duties.

Section 5 seeks to clarify the role of the clerk of the court within the judiciary, stating that the clerk will be a member of the Judiciary, must be elected by a “majority vote of five elected justices” and will act as a historian for the Judiciary by maintaining records and documents relevant to trials by the Judiciary.

Finally, the changes seek to clarify the details of how a hearing is carried out by the Judiciary, including the timeframe of a trial. First, the amendment clarifies that students may submit a complaint to any member of the Judiciary either through a formal written complaint or electronically. It also sets a timeframe for the process, stating that “a date for the case to be brought to trial shall be set within five academic days of its presentation to a Judiciary member.” The last significant change made to this section is that judicial hearings, which were formerly always open to the public, may — upon request and approval — close “all or part of its hearings to only persons specified by the Judiciary in order to protect rights of involved individuals.”

Additionally, the Judiciary members removed all gender pronouns from Article IV, writing that they “hope the remainder of the Constitution will follow suit.”

The email sent to the student body also noted that anyone can submit an article against the proposed amendment, but it must be submitted 48 hours before the vote occurs on Wednesday.