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Official Amity Regional Senior High School Northeast State Junior State of America Constitution & Code of Law
Amity Regional Senior High School Northeast State Junior State Of America Constitution and Code of Law
Preamble
We, as Amity High School JSA members are wholly devoted to learning about executive leadership, in order to, expand our knowledge on prevalent world events, while encouraging one another’s involvement in politics. We do hereby establish this constitution for the Chapter of the Amity Regional Senior High School Northeast State Junior Statesmen of America.
Article I: The Individual
Section 1: Individually one should have a connection, involvement or interest in the world of politics.
Section 2: One shall show an interest in what JSA stands for and what JSA has to offer.
Section 3: This constitution as well as the chapter of Amity JSA is all formed under the principles of democracy. One shall always have the right to share any thought, opinion or criticism.
Section 4: Each individual is considered equal, therefore one shall receive equal protection under the code of law and will not be denied of any privileges that they are entitled to, unless proper reasoning from a teacher advisor and/or above is presented.
Section 5: One shall be an enrolled student at the Amity Regional Senior High School in Woodbridge, Connecticut.
Section 6: No individual shall be discriminated in regards to of their race, creed, color, sex, nationality, handicap, or sexual orientation.
Article II: The Purpose of this Document
Sections 1: The purpose of this document shall be to distinguish and establish:
a. What makes an individual a member of Amity JSA.
b. What rights an individual is entitled to.
c. The roles and responsibilities of all officers.
d. The layout and objectives of weekly meetings.
e. The goals and selection process for new leadership.
f. How to create bylaws and revisions with the constitution.
Article III: Membership
Note: This article shall take in effect at the start of the 2013-2014 academic year.
Section 1: A member shall be defined as any Amity High School student who completes the following requirements:
Subsection 1: A member of Amity JSA must attend five meetings a year as well as one of the following:
a. At least an additional five meetings a year.
b. At least one state convention (Fall state, Winter congress or Spring State).
c. At least two Chapter conferences.
Section 2: All members should be active and involved in weekly meetings.
Section 3: Students deemed members under this constitution could run for an Amity JSA elected cabinet position and/or apply for any Amity JSA appointed position, unless noted otherwise.
Section 4: There shall only be one category of membership within the chapter of Amity JSA.
Section 5: If disruptive the teacher advisor or president can force a member to leave the meeting or event.
a. Membership can and will be stripped when requested by higher authority such as, the administration.
Article IV: The Rights and Responsibilities of Each Member
Section 1: All members of the Amity JSA Chapter shall enjoy equal protection under the Northeast State Constitution and United States law.
Section 2: All ideas and opinions will be acknowledged and recognized.
Section 3: It is every member’s responsibility to pay their annual taxes.
Section 4: One does not have to agree with other’s opinions and ideals although they should remain respectful.
Section 5: One is responsible for appropriately representing Amity JSA at all conventions, chapter conferences, or regional events.
Article V: Elections/Selection Process for Leadership
Section 1: Any student may run for elected office provided that the person is a chapter member and not a regional or state elected official.
a. All approved members may vote in the elections.
b. Anyone may appeal to the teacher advisor if membership is not approved.
Section 2: The officers shall be elected by secret ballot at the last meeting of the elected term. A secret ballot shall be defined as a voting method in which a voter’s choice in an election is anonymous.
Subsection 2: The candidate receiving a majority of votes cast shall be declared the winner.
a. If no candidate received a simple majority of the vote, the candidates receiving the fewest votes shall be dropped from the ballot and, a new election shall commence with only the candidates receiving the top two votes.
Section 3: Candidates are allowed to receive endorsements.
Section 4: If the president is not running for office, he or she becomes the election advisor, meaning he or she will enforce the rules and over see the election.
a. If the president is running for office, the position of election advisor will fall to the teacher advisor.
b. The election advisor will be responsible for releasing a list of all members of Amity JSA that are eligible to vote prior to the start of the election season.
c. The election advisor must remain impartial during the election season.
Section 5: Candidates may approach a member to discuss Amity JSA elections at the start of the Amity JSA election season deemed by the election advisor.
Section 6: Candidates may not receive an endorsement on Election Day.
Section 7. A candidate must drop out 24 hours prior to the election and must notify the election advisor.
Section 8: Candidates running for the same position shall be allotted equal amounts of time per speech.
a. Each candidate shall be given 3 minutes for his or her speech.
b. The lengths of speeches are subject to change depending upon the number of candidates for each position. The election advisor shall determine this.
c. The election advisor is given the authority to hold candidates forums throughout the election season, where the election advisor will oversee the rules of these candidate forums.
Section 9: In the whole of the election, a candidate running for president shall only be allowed to run for vice president as well.
a. A candidate may only run for one position at one time.”
Section 10: The teacher advisor will be responsible to distribute absentee ballots.
a. Students will be able to receive the ballot throughout the school day of the Election Day.
b. One must qualify as a member in order to receive an absentee ballot.
c. Once the meeting of the election begins, no more absentee ballots will be accepted.
Section 11: Ethics (ref. Northeast State Constitution)
a. Candidates must respect other members and candidates for all offices.
b. Candidates shall not slander anyone, nor may they write libel.
c. Candidates may not bribe delegates for votes. This may include the exchange of money or items for the promise of a vote. Candidates may not promise or offer cabinet positions.
d. Candidates may be punished for improper action made prior to their annunciation of candidacy (ref. Art. III Sec. IV).
e. Candidates are responsible for the ethical conduct of their campaign teams.
Section 12: The election advisor, and if available the teacher advisor, will discuss punishments for any violations of the election ethics laid out in the constitution.
a. All punishments are subject to appeal to the teacher advisor.
Article VI: The Role and Responsibilities of Officers
Section 1: The term of the elected officers shall start the day they are elected and end the following year on once the incoming elected officers are certified.
Section 2: The positions of President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Secretary shall be elected positions. This shall be the order of succession.
a. In the case of a vacant secretary position, after the elections, the President may appoint a replacement secretary with the approval of a majority of the chapter.
b. A 2/3rds vote of chapter members present and voting at the following meeting will be taken to approve president’s appointment for secretary.
c. If the President resigns or is impeached, the order of succession is implemented and section two, subsection a shall take into effect immediately.
Section 3: The elected officers:
a. President: is the chief executive officer of the chapter and is responsible for representing the chapter at all events. The President will preside over all meetings and be a member of all committees. She or he is responsible for running the chapter’s educational program. The President may appoint other temporary officers as the need arises. The president represents the chapter in the JCOCP. He/she also has the ability to create new cabinet positions not in the constitution with teacher advisor’s consent as well as a majority vote in the current Amity JSA cabinet. The president retains the power to make executive orders that can be overturned by a 2/3rds vote of all members present and voting at the following meeting. The Chapter President will determine the number of membership of the organization, and will adjust the membership as necessary. Once the election of the incoming executive board is certified, the former chapter president shall serve as a non-voting member of the executive board until the end of the said school year to aid the incoming executive board.
b. Vice President: assists the President and becomes President if there is a vacancy in that position. Represents the president, if he or she is absent.
c. Treasurer: organizes fundraising events; handles all affairs and communications regarding chapter funds; approves all usages of chapter funds; ensures that funds are properly allocated and that students are properly reimbursed. The treasurer is responsible for choosing activism causes; organizing fundraising for activism events and creating activism cause for annual chapter conference. The treasurer must be present when there are agenda items that pertain to monetary issues of the Amity JSA Chapter. The treasurer also aids the president whenever he or she is needed.
d. Secretary: will keep attendance of all members at the meetings. The Secretary communicates all pertinent information to chapter members through eloquently crafted electronic communications; keeps the minutes (written record) at weekly chapter meetings and deals with interactions between the media and Amity JSA. The secretary also aids the president whenever he or she is needed.
Section 4: Appointed Officers:
a. Director of Debate: responsible for all the debate conducted and organized within the chapter. The Director of Debate teaches all chapter members the procedure of JSA congressional-style debate as well as effective debating skills; selects the debate topic and moderates debates at weekly chapter meetings; assists in the writing and editing of bills for Winter Congress; approves all debate topics for Amity-hosted chaptercons and megacons. The Director of Debate also aids the president whenever he or she is needed.
Section 5: Any officer may be removed by a two-thirds vote of chapter members present and voting; provided that a week’s notice has been given that this motion will be considered.
a. The said officer may give a five minute speak prior to the voting.
Section 6: If the Amity JSA board dissolves, all power remains with the teacher advisor.
Article VII: Meetings
Section 1: The chapter shall meet a minimum of twice a month during the school year. Either the President or the Teacher/Advisor may call meetings.
Section 2: All meetings shall be run according to the president and teacher advisor.
a. The chapter will have an advisor in accordance with the rules and regulations of Amity High School. The advisor will provide guidance, supervision and serve as a liaison to the Amity Chapter.
Section 3: All group decisions will be based on a two-thirds vote.
a. The teacher advisor has the power to veto any decision of the chapter.
Article VIII: The Establishment of Amendments and Revisions
Section 1: In order for this constitution to be amended, a meeting must be held with the teacher advisor present.
a. The teacher advisor and president should be notified of the revision 5 days prior to the meeting.
Section 2: Any amendment or revision will be based off a two-thirds vote of members present and voting (Article VII, Section 3).
Sections 3: Any amendment or revision must be supported with explanation and reasoning, all of which needs to be presented to the Chapter prior to voting.
Sections 4: The amendment/revision shall be adopted immediately following the vote of approval.
Section 5: No amendment or piece of this constitution shall violate any provision set forth in the Northeast JSA Constitution.
Ratification
This constitution was ratified on _May 8, 2013_______ by a vote of ___19-0-0___.
Ratification Signature
Thomas A. Falcigno (electronically transcribed May 15, 2019)
President Thomas A. Falcigno, 2012-2013
Amendments
Article III Section 1 Amended on Wednesday May 15th by a vote of 10-2-0
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