IUSA Supreme Court justice resigns, indicates 'failures'

Aquila's resignation, which was submitted to student body president Jake Oakman and Chief Justice Robert Cioffi, a senior, is in response to recent actions of the Court.\nIn a press release Aquila said he is resigning because by remaining on the court he is "complicit in its actions."\n"In the past few years the court has become less responsive to student concerns and its judicial actions have become, for lack of a better term, reckless and irresponsible," he said. "It is no longer an organization I feel that I can be a part of, nor one whose actions I condone."\nAquila said the court has become more concerned with maintaining power than with responding to student needs. In his letter of resignation, he rails against the court's recent bids to maintain power despite IUSA congressional measures to curtail it.\nJunior Paul Musgrave, author of the new IUSA constitution, said the court has acted irresponsibly, recklessly and illegally, prompting the measures to curtail its power.\n"The IUSA Court is reckless, arrogant and in my view incompetent," he said. "Recent events have only confirmed my suspicions."\nMusgrave said there have been two amendments passed, with the changes incorporated into the new constitution that curtailed the scope of the court's powers.\n"The Court at every turn rejected offers of compromise," he said. "Instead, the majority of the Court's membership -- notably excepting Justice Aquila -- thought the Court should be immune from due process and impeachment."\nMusgrave said he is sorry to see Aquila leave IUSA, and believes the loss speaks volumes.\n"That a person with such unimpeachable character as Steve Aquila has found that he can no longer support the actions of the Supreme Court is a sure sign that the court has gone too far," he said.\nAquila said he believes IUSA does a lot for students, but the Supreme Court does not help.\n"We do a lot of good things, and what got to me about the Court is that they rarely helped these good projects along, mostly ignored them and in some cases were openly hostile," he said.\nOakman, a senior, said he regrets the resignation of Aquila.\n"I was saddened but not surprised to see Mr. Aquila resign from the Supreme Court," he said. "He made his decision based on the principles of his convictions and I respect him for that. I understand his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the Supreme Court's decision, and at the risk of sounding vulgar, it took balls to do what he did. "\nChief Justice Robert Cioffi was unable to be reached.