Senator Philip Denton submitted the following report regarding Senate Resolution 44, "A RESOLUTION TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO IMPEACH SENATOR PALIN", on Wendesday, April 3, 2002, on behalf of the Government Operations Committee, and pursuant to its April 1, 2002 recommendations:

As provided by Senate Rule 12(b), the committee requests that the Senate President place Senate Resolution 44 on the calendar for second reading.

Attendance:

There were seven (7) Senators (Denton, Fabricius, Joyner, Mangum, Tatum, White, Wright) present;

There are one (1) Senator (Brown) absent;

A quorum was present.

Purpose of the Legislation:

SR 44, The Palin Impeachment, impeaches Senator Palin on the charge(s) of violating the Student Government Code of Ethics.

Background Information:

SR 44, The Palin Impeachment, was referred to the Subcommittee on Ethics, which heard statements from the side of the authors and the side of the accused. After a couple months, the subcomittee reported SR44 to the Committee on Government Operations favorably, by general consent.

Debate:

The committee reviewed the sponsors’ list of specifications, and any charges that were not deemed prosecutable and defensible due to lack of evidence were dropped, so only specific specifications were left. The merit of each charge and its specifications were discussed.
The committee heard from a few people on the charges, then met again. At that time, the sponsors had no further evidence to present. Hence, the committee deems its investigation complete. Although the bill was reported out of committee, the dissenting opinion was that there was not sufficient evidence gathered to support the bill.

Recommendations:

The Committee on Government Operations recommends consideration of this bill on the Senate floor.

Committee Amendments:

Amended by substitute.