Judicial Branch Spotlight Ft. Rossell Brewer, Will Kissel, and Ryan Crnarich

Rossell Brewer, Will Kissel, and Ryan Carnarich talk about their history with SGA, what the judicial branch does, and what they hope to accomplish in the upcoming year. The following is an overview of the interview that took place on March 17th. 

Morgan Ross | maross2@butler.edu, Rebeca Gamboa | rgamboa@butler.edu 

The Judicial Branch at Butler University is comprised of six Justices and a Chief Justice. The branch is responsible for deciding the constitutionality of legislative and executive actions; they hear appeals regarding SGA decisions, including the allocation of grants and the endorsement of student organizations. Presidential and Senate elections are held by the Judicial Branch as well. Additionally, they have the authority to hold hearings relating to conduct in order to hold SGA members accountable for their actions. The branch is also responsible for overseeing several aspects of the processes within SGA; they handle the interpretation of governing documents when areas and phrasings are unclear. Most recently, they have tackled setting up a new platform for onboarding in the organization as well as diligently working to make content about SGA.

Rossell Brewer is one of three branch leaders in SGA and serves as Chief Justice of the SGA Supreme Court. Meeting regularly with other branch leaders to discuss organizational initiatives, Brewer and other spokespersons make sure to take up pertinent issues in a timely manner, release rulings and interpret governing documents. Brewer initially gained interest in SGA through his desire to be involved on campus. 

“As one of my majors in political science,” Brewer said. “I have always found legal interpretation to be an interesting field, and court processes to be interesting.” 

Through SGA, Brewer has been able to make valuable connections, experiences, and leave a positive impact in the Butler community.

Will Kissel serves as the Chair of Executive Oversight and Vice Chair of Legislative Oversight. For these positions, he reviews Senate resolutions and executive orders every week to make sure that they comply with SGA’s governing documents– all of which deal with conduct issues within SGA and how to hold senatorial and presidential elections. 

Kissel gained interest in SGA as he participated in mock United Nations and Kentucky state government conferences from seventh grade to the end of high school. Those conferences introduced him to the world of politics and helped him to become educated on important issues. Will is a computer science major, and has found that the judicial branch of SGA is the perfect place that relates to his interests in law. 

Ryan Crnarich is one of six Justices that works to keep the other branches in check. Crnarich’s specific titled role is Legislative Oversight, which works with the legislative branch to ensure that all of their procedures are consistent with the SGA constitution and other governing documents. In addition to the Judicial Branch weekly meetings, Crnarich attends the Student Senate’s weekly meetings; he attends these meetings to answer any questions in regards to SGA’s governing documents. Crnarich is a political science major at Butler and has found an interest in politics and the law. 

After graduation he hopes to attend law school, which made joining the Judicial Branch an easy decision for him; gaining valuable experience being a part of SGA has been rewarding for Crnarich all while serving the student body. The preamble to SGA’s mission is to “provide a channel for the expression of the student body’s ideas, opinions, and concerns, promote campus unity and cooperation, embrace diversity, address important campus issues, promote and sponsor student services, empower student organizations, and build greater community relationships” all of which is of the utmost importance to Crnarich and exactly why he enjoys his position.

The Judicial Branch functions to check and review the other branches, primarily done via Legislative Review. Crnarich and Kissel serve to review any piece of legislation–whether it be an executive order, a resolution, a presidential veto or any other decisions. This review is required prior to presenting them to the court for their passage or denial.  After review, the court solely looks at whether or not these documents are consistent with the governing documents of SGA; this process focuses not so much on their contents, but rather that they adhere to the constitution and other necessary bylaws. The Judicial Branch is also responsible for responding to anonymous petitions filed by students with various concerns.

With every organization, there are some conflicts that will be encountered; most of those have revolved around conduct within the Judicial Branch, which can be uncomfortable to be involved in. Brewer talked about one way of handling this, such as attempting to educate themselves and the organization about the processes involved when dealing with issues of conduct and having clear procedures. By making these intentional efforts, everyone in the organization clearly acknowledges and understands the expectations and different ways that the Court works to ensure fair processes.

Though there have been conflicts, the Judicial Branch has had several accomplishments over the course of the Spring semester. The largest accomplishment the branch has completed is the implementation of an ongoing archive of SGA actions; it gives useful information to SGA members about past initiatives and actions and provides insight into how to take action in the future. Another success was election season according to Brewer, there were numerous races and new events that took place to increase candidate outreach.

The Judicial Branch is able to help and support in any scenario big or small and all members of the Judicial Branch can be found on SGA’s website. 

“I speak for all Justices on the Court when I say that ‘we are always available to be reached out to…we serve the student body.” Crnarich said. 

If a student has any questions in regards to the branch or SGA in general, the best way to contact them is through the Judicial Branch’s email (sgajudicial@butler.edu), which is frequently checked. Additionally, for questions or inquiries regarding the judicial branch, visit https://butlersga.org/judicial-about.