Applications for student justices available

The IU Student Association Supreme Court is now looking for four students to fill the available associate justice positions for fall 2003. Four of the 11 current justices are graduating in May. The court is accepting applications until Friday, March 28. \nExternal Affairs Committee Chair Claire Carter, who is graduating in May, stressed the need for assertive applicants. \n"We need people who are flexible in the sense that they need to be able to listen but also state their opinion," she said. "When you get 11 really strong leaders in a room, you need to have somebody who's able to stand up and give their opinion."\nChief Justice Brian Clifford said almost any student can apply.\n"Basically if you have a student identification number, you're eligible," he said.\nCarter said a lot of students have a misconception on whom the court is looking for.\n"A lot of justices in the past have been prelaw or political science majors, but it's not a requirement. In fact, we would like more diversity on the court to represent the campus better," she said.\nThe court has three primary responsibilities -- campus hearing commissions, constitutional and bylaw challenges and election disputes.\nHearing commissions are appeals from University judicial board decisions. These boards include dormitory, campus and greek judicial boards.\nMindel said hearing commissions are an important and beneficial part of the court.\n"The hearing commissions are rewarding to do and have a big impact on the student body," she said. \nThe court is the final authority over all matters pertaining to IUSA's constitution and bylaws and sits as a body for all appeals and interpretations of these documents.\nThe court also has the authority to issue the final settlement on all matters involving election disputes. \n"IU has a very strong tradition in having students being involved in the judicial system," Carter said. "Not a lot of Big Ten schools have that, but IU allows it, and I think that's great."\nInternal Affairs Committee Chair Samara Mindel acts as the court's clerk. Mindel, who is graduating in May, is responsible for filing all appeals.\n"We've increased our application pool while I've been the chair of external affairs majorly because we've done so much in that area to include a really diverse pool of applicants," she said.\nJason Riley, who is the judicial affairs committee chair, is graduating from the law school in May.\n"We provide a very important function for the student body," Riley said. "If for no other reason but simply having the hearing commissions, the court is very important, and it's really great that IU allows students to be involved in every part of the process."\nAside from the main requirements for applicants, the members have a number of aspects they are looking for in applicants.\n"Being able to work in a group is very important," he said. "Applicants should be able to really communicate and think clearly. You have to be able to voice your opinions, stand by what you say and have a good sense of self."\nThe court normally receives 30 to 60 applications, and they then sit down to pick applicants for interviews. \n"It's very selective and difficult since everyone who applies is so qualified," Clifford said.\nThe court forwards their recommendations onto the student body president, who makes the final selection, which generally agrees with the court's selections. The president forwards his recommendation onto congress. A bill is written by the president, chief justice and a congress member and needs to be passed by congress.\nInterviews for selected applicants will be held March 31 to April 18. The court hopes to have this process completed by mid- to late-April.\n"We spend about 70 hours doing interviews and another 15 hours just going over the applications themselves, deciding who to pick," he said. "It's really hard but we think it's definitely worth it because it's such an important job."\nA complete list of requirements for applicants and the application itself are available online at www.indiana.edu/~court/. Interested students may also request hard copies by e-mailing the court at court@indiana.edu. Applications are also available in the IUSA office, Room 387, in the Student Activities tower in the Indiana Memorial Union.