Supreme Court of the Student Body

The UF Supreme Court of the Student Body is the official judicial branch of Student Government. The UF Supreme Court of the Student Body serves as an independent branch of government that ensures that the necessary checks and balances are in place to keep both the executive and legislative branches from exceeding their respective powers as delegated to them by the UF Constitution and statutes. The main function of the court is to ensure that the actions of the other branches of government do not violate the existing UF Student Body Statutes or the UF Constitution.

The court is comprised of four associate justices and one chief justice. Each justice is a law student that has been appointed by the Student Government President and confirmed by the Senate. Each of the justices of the court enjoys an appointment that extends until their graduation – thereby insulating the court from the pressures of the political process.

The court is not a political body, and strives to achieve a just resolution to each dispute properly brought under its jurisdiction. In order to achieve this result, the court regularly holds hearings whereby petitioners may testify as to their position on the matter in dispute. At the conclusion of testimony the justices retire to draft an opinion that includes the outcome of the case.

Chief Justice Bio

Brian Aungst

OFFICE HOURS: FRIDAY 1PM-3PM
baungst1@UFL.EDU

 Brian has been a student leader at the University of Florida for the last six years. Elected to serve in the Student Senate in his first semester on campus, Brian immediately went to work in an effort to make a positive impact on campus and in the Gainesville community. He served as Chairman of the Student Senate Judiciary Committee and was influential in creating the Supreme Court by separating the Board of Masters and the Honor Court. As Judiciary Chair, Brian worked with many student groups writing their statutes and winning them funding for programs and events from the SG budget. In this role he also oversaw reapportionment of the Student Senate and authored the first SG sexual orientation anti-discrimination policy. He was appointed to the City of Gainesville’s Towing Advisory Board by the City Commission where he was able to successfully prevent an increase in roam-towing rates. For this work, his peers awarded Brian with the Paul Clark Memorial Award for Most Outstanding Committee Chairman. In 2004, Dean of Students Gene Zdziarski recognized Brian with the C. Arthur Sandeen improving the Quality of Life Award for “improving the quality of life of all students.”

Brian graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunication-News and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in August 2005 and entered the Levin College of Law that same month. In law school, Brian has continued to serve the student body as an Elections Commissioner, Supervisor of Elections, and as an Associate Justice and now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Student Body. In fall 2007, President Machen appointed Brian as one of four student members of the Committee on a Civil, Safe, and Open Environment which was formed to review all University policies in the wake of the incident at the John Kerry public forum. Brian will graduate with his Juris Doctorate in May 2008 and has accepted an offer to become an Associate at the Tampa law firm of MacFarlane Ferguson and McMullen, P.A.