ASB Attorney General Rob Pillow says that the investigation into the ASB Judicial Council’s “Colonel Reb” title ruling is not yet complete.
ASB Attorney General Rob Pillow. (Thomas Graning/The DM)
Current ASB Attorney General Rob Pillow has not yet reached a conclusion to the investigation he launched last week into the March 25 ASB Judicial Council’s decision to ban the title “Colonel Reb” from homecoming personality elections.
Pillow released a statement last night about the investigation and its future, which can be seen in its entirety on theDMonline.com.
Pillow had hoped to release the results today, but he said that there are certain factors that must be considered before the investigation can be completed.
One thing he plans to do Wednesday is sit down with former ASB Judicial Chair Courtney Pearson, who presided over the council’s “Colonel Reb” ruling, and get more details about the council’s process in determining the ruling.
“I have asked Ms. Courtney Pearson to join me along with two of her associates and two of my associates to examine the process and policy, gain better understanding of both and provide helpful information to those students who have had questions,” Pillow wrote in the release.
Pillow launched the investigation last Tuesday night after citing concerns about the legality of the process in which the ASB Judicial Council came to its decision to revoke the title “Colonel Reb,” which was given to the male counterpart of “Miss Ole Miss” during homecoming week.
If the results of the investigation show that the Judicial Council’s process contradicts the ASB Constitution and Code, then the council’s ruling would be null and void, according to Pillow, although he said that the investigation is not about trying to overturn the council’s ruling.
Instead, it is about investigating what really happened.
“We just need more time,” Pillow said Sunday night.
“This is something that can’t be rushed at all, and we want to get it right. We can’t really do the best job without hearing Pearson’s side.”
Pillow and Pearson will each bring two associates to the meeting, and an undisclosed person from the Ole Miss School of Law will serve as a mediator to the group.
Pearson said Sunday night that she was appreciative of the opportunity to meet with Pillow.
“I’m very much looking forward to meeting with (Pillow),” Pearson said.
“Communication is the best way to solve all of this. We need to understand each other and where each of us are coming from in our arguments. I commend Rob (Pillow) for proposing the meeting.”
Pearson sent a letter to The DM Thursday night, citing that Pillow’s investigation itself was unconstitutional.
“A process for the Attorney General to investigate or declare that a process and/or a decision made by the Judicial Council as unconstitutional, does not exist,” Pearson wrote in the letter, which can also be found on theDMonline.com.
“Because there is not a process in which the Department of Justice (Title I. Section 116) can declare a judicial procedure or decision unconstitutional, such actions would, in fact, be unconstitutional themselves.”
Pillow said that there is no timetable for the investigation to be completed.
