Fairfax, va. (AP) – A judge ordered that eight members of the public university, who were attracted by the Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, are removed from their posts for the Democrats of the Senate of Virginia, who rejected the appointments in a vote of the June committee.
The judge of the Fairfax Circuit Court, Jonathan D. Frieden, separated the newly appointed members from their government seats at the University of Virginia, George Mason University and the Virginia Military Institute. At the request of nine Democrats of the Senate of Virginia, who had filed a lawsuit last month to apply for immediate measures against the heads of the university board members, also known as rectors or presidents.
The nine senators argued that despite the legislative committee, the chairman of the board of directors had rejected membership in the eight board members who continued to recognize them as members, and peace agreed.
“Here the public interest is served to confirm or reject the governor officer by protecting the authorized legislator,” Frieden wrote about his order in an opinion letter.
On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Virginia General Prosecutor said in a statement that his office would appeal to the order against the order.
“This case is uncomplicated,” said spokesman Shaun Kenney and added: “We will quickly submit an appeal to the Supreme Court of Court and are confident in our position.”
The case comes in the middle of the efforts of the White House to form university formation, with a focus on Dei. The universities in Virginia and the United States have recently become a basis for political tensions between academic leaders and the federal government, with committees at the center of these battles.
The political and cultural gap in university formation only has conflicts about who has a place at the table for critical voices of the board of directors who could influence the future of these institutions.
In June, the President of the University of Virginia, Jim Ryan, resigned after the Ministry of Justice had pushed at its distance. At the beginning of this month, the Trump administration initiated an investigation of civil rights into the attitudes of George Mason University. George Mason’s board of directors later has a session this week.
And at the beginning of this year, the board of the Virginia Military Institute replaced its president, Major General of the Army, General Cedric T. His term as president was characterized by the implementation of diversity initiatives, which were faced with some conservative alumni against the setback.
Last month, the Committee on Privilege and Election Committee of the Senate of Virginia met through a ongoing special meeting and decided against the approval of the eight university officers produced by Youngkin, in particular, including the former Attorney General of Virginia, Ken Cuccinelli II, and Caren Merrick, the former Minister of Commerce of Youngkin. According to the state constitution, all appointments of the governor unit are subject to a confirmation of the General Assembly.
After the vote, Scott Surrovell, the majority leader of the Democratic Senate, wrote a letter to all CEO, in which she reminded that the representatives must be approved by the legislator.
However, the Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares also wrote to the heads of the university directors and instead advised them that the appointed members should remain in the government agencies because only a committee, not the entire general assembly, had voted to reject them.
Mark Stancil, a lawyer who represented the democratic senators, argued that the guidance of the Attorney General was wrong.
“Your position flies to the text of the constitution, the text of the government law and decades of practice,” he wrote in a court registration.
Christopher Michel, who represents the rectors, countered that if the constitution determines that the legislator has the authority to reject names, this would mean the full legislator rather than the committee.
“The general assembly is a two-house body,” said Michel.
Michel further questioned whether the Virginia senators met the legal requirements that are necessary so that the board members were immediately removed by a judge. He claimed that Virginia’s senators had sued the wrong people and that the rectors had not represented the elected members themselves. Stancil argued to the court that rectors are responsible for holding meetings and counting voices.
In his letter, Peace said that the rectors were to blame in the case and wrote: “As the person who is available at these meetings, it is responsible for recognizing members who speak and recognize the votes of the members.”
Surovell, Senator Kannan Srinivasan and Deputy Attorney General Theo Stamos were among the benches in the courtroom. Surovell said to a group of reporters outside the courtroom that the state Democrats had responsibility to push back.
“These boards just don’t seem to be very interested in following a law or listening to anything that the company that controls it,” he said. “This hearing is about ensuring that we have a rule of law in Virginia – that the laws are followed and that the Senate is heard.”
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Olivia Diaz is a member of the Corps for the “Associated Press/Report” initiative for America Statehouse News. The report for America is a non -profit National Service program that reports journalists in local news editorial offices on hidden topics.
