UF Supreme Court to set rules for petitions

The UF Supreme Court is holding a meeting Tuesday to set rules to hear petitions submitted by students.

At 5 p.m. in Room 285C at the UF Levin College of Law, the court will go over procedures in order to hear two petitions, said UF Supreme Court Chief Justice Chris Tribbey. About 40 student petitioners are asking the court to reconsider an opinion made June 25.

Tribbey said determining if and how many students can speak at the next meeting, Sept. 6, and for how long, will be a focus of Tuesday’s meeting.

“I think people should feel like they’re being heard,” Tribbey said. “I would encourage those who are interested to be present.”

Over summer, the court overturned four amendments after interpreting the UF constitution.

According to Alligator archives, the overturned amendments included allowing remote online voting, reducing the number of available senate seats, reducing the amount of petition signatures needed from the Student Body — raising it from 5 percent back to 10 percent — and adding genetic information in Student Governemnt’s anti-discriminatory policy.

Petitions submitted before Thursday will be addressed Sept. 6 at the same time and location as Tuesday’s meeting, Tribbey said.

“The interest would be to make it as efficient and fair as possible,” he said. “That should be the goal.”

Because SG is mandated by the Florida Legislature, it’s required to post about meetings within a reasonable amount of time to abide state law.

Savannah Patterson, a UF food and resource economics junior, said she would like the court to be more transparent.

“I’m a junior and I know very little about that part of campus and student life,” the 20-year-old said.

Patterson said she would like a reliable way to find information about the court and its meetings.

“As far as I know, there’s no way to access what exactly is going on,” she said. “At least a Facebook page or something.”