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Proposal Details

Proposal ID	960
Proposal	Establish a GPUS Ethics Committee
Presenter	Green Parties of VA, PA, DC, WI, and WA Black, LatinX, and National Women's Caucuses
Floor Manager	Violet Rose Zitola
Phase	Cancelled
Discussion	06/03/2019 - 06/23/2019
Voting	06/24/2019 - 06/30/2019
Presens Quorum	0.6666
Consens Quorum	0.6666 of Yes and No Votes

Background

Note: Quorum is 32 states/caucuses at this time.

In any organization of sufficient size, it will sometimes happen that a member of the organization, or a group of members possibly acting in an official capacity, will act in a way that violates the ethical standards of the organization. Such violations may be such as to incur either a civil or criminal legal response, but individual and/or official actions may also violate ethical standards without being legally actionable. In either case, the organization must have a process for identifying such behaviors and incidents, or reviewing allegations of them, and arriving at a disposition of the matter that is just to the parties concerned and shields the organization from liability or other further harm.

The GPUS presently has two committees with limited authority to procedurally address charges of wrongdoing made against its members. The Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) "is charged with providing mediation and arbitration services for intra-party disputes." The DRC can seek to ascertain facts, contact parties, and seek resolution. However, the process is voluntary; if one or more parties to the dispute chooses not to participate, there is no process and no resolution. The Accreditation Committee (AC) "reviews and makes recommendations on requests to remove state parties or caucuses from accredited status." The AC has no authority to review allegations of violations by an individual or by any committee or other organizational group in the national party.

The lack of a formal procedure for addressing individual and internal institutional violations of GPUS ethical standards is a serious deficiency that must be addressed. This proposal creates a committee for this purpose. It does not increase the total number of GPUS committees, because the new Ethics Committee will absorb the existing Dispute Resolution Committee.

Proposal

An Ethics Committee of the Green Party of the United States is hereby established with the following Mission Statement and Policies and Procedures.

MISSION STATEMENT:

The Ethics Committee of the Green Party of the United States shall process complaints of individual or institutional violations of the GPUS Code of Conduct as defined in the Bylaws of the GPUS. It shall determine the validity and scope of such complaints, conduct appropriate investigations, and determine whether to formulate and propose to the National Committee recommendations for sanctions or reconciliation.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES:

I. DEFINITIONS:

I.1. "Member" in this document refers to any person identified as a member or formal associate of the Green Party of the United States, either by membership in a constituent state party or caucus, or by assignment to a recognized committee, or by written or verbal contract.

I.2. "Violation" refers to any action, including by speech, writing, voluntary association, or physical behavior, that violates the Code of Conduct set forth in the bylaws of the GPUS.

I.3. "Legal action" refers to any process undertaken by individuals or by officials of any governmental jurisdiction in accordance with applicable civil and criminal codes.

I.4. "Evidence" refers to any of the following: documents that can be independently verified, physical evidence that can be objectively examined, first-hand testimony that is credible and offered in good faith, or the recorded findings of a court of law.

II. COMMITTEE STRUCTURE:

II.1 The GPUS Ethics Committee (EC) shall consist of 9 members, with no more than 2 who are members of the same state party at any given time. Members of the Steering Committee may not simultaneously serve on the Ethics Committee.

II.2 EC members shall be elected by the National Committee for three-year terms, with three EC members elected each year. No EC member may serve more than two full terms consecutively.

II.3 For the initial election of EC members, three shall be elected for terms to expire on December 31st, 2020, three for terms to expire on December 31st, 2021, and three for terms to expire on December 31st, 2022. The members elected to the longest terms will be those with the highest vote totals, with ties to be decided by coin toss.

II.3 There will be three co-chairs chosen internally from among the elected EC members, to serve one-year terms. Co-Chair appointments should promote gender and racial diversity. Consecutive co-chair terms are permitted.

II.4 Committee terms and co-chair terms shall be dated from January 1st. Special elections and/or appointments will be used in the event of an unscheduled vacancy. Interim appointments shall be made only until the next scheduled election.

II.5 The current Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) will be reestablished as a subcommittee of the Ethics Committee, with the current DRC Administration (sub)Committee replaced by the Ethics Committee, and the Mediator and Arbiter Pool staffed by volunteers vetted and supervised by the EC.

COMMITTEE PROCEDURES:

III.1. The EC shall consider two types of complaints: those made against one or more individual members for their individual actions, and those made against committees or other official GPUS groups for procedural, systemic, or systematic violations.

III.2. Investigatory Phase.

III.2.a. Complaints may be made by any GPUS member to any EC member. EC members must recuse themselves from consideration of, or any procedural activity with respect to, any complaint regarding themselves or their state party, or with respect to which they have any other evident conflict of interest.

III.2.b. When a complaint is received, it will be immediately forwarded to the EC co-chairs, who may request additional information or clarification from the complainant. If at least two co-chairs find the complaint actionable, they shall forward the complaint to the remaining members of the EC. If at least two additional members concur that the complaint is actionable, the complaint shall be processed according to the procedures set out in sub-paragraphs III.2.d-j below.

III.2.c. If the complaint is not deemed actionable, the complainant will be notified, and the complaint filed and kept for a period of at least three years. Complaints that are not actionable may nonetheless be referred to the Dispute Resolution Subcommittee (DRS) for mediation provided that (1) the complainant is interested in Dispute Resolution, and (2) in the opinion of at least 2 co-chairs or 4 EC members, mediation could be of value.

III.2.d. If the complaint is deemed actionable, the EC may choose, by consensus or majority vote, to notify the subject(s) of the complaint that an investigatory process has been initiated, and offer to suspend that process if both the complainant and the subjects will enter a dispute mediation process. Such notification shall not take place without the written consent of the complainant. All parties shall be advised that if the dispute mediation process is successful then the complaint shall be closed and filed, and that if at any time the EC is advised by the mediators that the process has failed then the processing of the complaint shall resume. The report of the mediators shall be included in the case file.

III.2.e. Actionable complaints that have not been assigned to dispute mediation or for which dispute mediation has failed shall be assigned to a three-member Investigative Subcommittee (IS) of the EC, by consensus or by a vote of the EC members.

III.2.f. The IS will create a confidential folder (i.e. "case file") of files to include the original complaint and any and all evidence and other materials subsequently obtained or created regarding the complaint.

III.2.g. The IS will establish a list of persons to be contacted, queried, and or interviewed with respect to the complaint, and will make a detailed record of all such communications. The identity of the complainant will be kept confidential if the complainant requests. The individual(s) named in the complaint will be asked to provide a statement, and/or an interview with them may be requested, but all such responses are voluntary and may not be compelled. The IS will seek to obtain any and all evidence and other relevant information regarding the complaint, for the purpose of drawing up a Findings Document. The Findings Document will summarize the complaint, the facts obtained, and any conclusions that may reasonably be inferred from the facts.

III.2.h. When the Findings Document is complete, it will be forwarded to the EC co-chairs, who will first determine whether to seek legal counsel. Legal counsel must be sought in any case where the findings indicate a violation of the law, or are such as to open the GPUS to liability for civil action. This includes but is not limited to cases of discrimination in employment, sexual or physical assault, misappropriation of funds or property, acts of larceny, vandalism, or any other violations of the law. If the co-chairs determine that legal advise should be sought, they will immediately notify the Steering Committee in a confidential communication.

III.2.i. Whether legal counsel is sought or not, the co-chairs will then distribute the Findings Document to the full EC membership, who will also at this point be given access to the full case file. After a period not to exceed one week, the EC members shall vote for one of the following Findings: (1) a Finding that there has been an Ethics Violation, or (2) a Finding of no Ethics Violation. The vote shall be by open ballot, and recorded.

III.2.j. If a simple majority of voting members fails to vote for a Finding of at least one Ethics Violation, the case file will be closed, and the complainant notified of the EC members decision. Closed case files are to be kept for a minimum of three years. At this point too the matter can be referred to the DRS, provided that (1) the complainant is interested in Dispute Resolution, and (2) in the opinion of at least 2 co-chairs or 4 EC members, mediation could be of value.

III.2.k. If a simple majority of voting members votes for a Finding of an Ethics Violation, then the matter proceeds to the Recommendations Phase.

III.3. Recommendation Phase.

III.3.a. Once a Finding of one or more Ethics Violations has been made by the full EC, the case file is assigned to a new three-member Recommendation Subcommittee (RS) of the EC appointed by consensus or by a vote from among the 6 members who were not on the Investigative Subcommittee for the case.

III.3.b. The RS will evaluate the Findings Document and determine which specific types of violations identified in the GPUS Code of Conduct were committed, by whom they were committed, how many times each type of violation was committed, and for each violation whether the violation could be characterized as (1) a minor violation or (2) a significant violation, and whether either mitigating factors or aggravating factors were present. This analysis will be recorded in tabular form.

III.3.c. For violations by one or more individuals, the RS will formulate a Recommendation for Sanctions for each such individual, to include one or more from among the following:

1. Recommendation of formal censure.
2. Recommendation of placement on moderated status on specified GPUS list-serves for a designated period, or permanently.
3. Recommendation of removal from (all or specified) GPUS list-serves for a designated period, or permanently.
4. Recommendation of removal from (all or specified) GPUS committee assignments for a designated period, or permanently.
5. Recommendation of revocation of delegate status (including alternate) to the GPUS NC for a designated period, or permanently.
6. Recommendation of disallowing attendance at (all or specified) GPUS events for a designated period, or permanently.

III.3.d. For violations by a committee or other organizational element of the GPUS, the RS will formulate a Recommendation for Reconciliation to include one or more of the following:

1. Recommendation of a specific change in membership, such as replacement or removal of named individuals.
2. Recommendation of a specific change in leadership, such as by new internal elections or other appropriate means.
3. Recommendation of a change in rules, procedures, or bylaws to address and prevent future violations.
4. Recommendation of removal of a committee or other organizational element from the GPUS structure.

III.3.e. The Recommendation for Sanctions and/or Reconciliation will include a rationale based on the Findings Document, attendant circumstances, and the potential for continuing or repeated violations.

III.3.f. The completed Recommendation will be sent to the entire EC, which will discuss the Recommendation and attempt to reach consensus about it, possibly including friendly amendments. If consensus cannot be reached, then the Recommendation as presented by the RS will be voted on. The vote will be by open ballot, and recorded.

III.3.g. If no Recommendation is agreed to either by consensus or by a simple majority vote, then the case file will be closed, the complainant notified, and the Recommendation, Findings Document, and case file kept for a period of at least three years.

III.3.h. If a Recommendation is agreed to, either by consensus or by vote, then the Recommendation, the Findings Document, and the complete case file, but with EC vote totals and ballots on the Findings and Recommendations redacted, will be forwarded to the Steering Committee, who will schedule the Recommendation as a formal proposal for the National Committee, with a normal discussion and voting period.

III.4. Reopening Complaints

III.4.a. A complaint that was closed within the preceding three years may be reopened if:

1. New evidence is presented to the EC which, in the opinion of at least two of the co-chairs or four of the EC members, warrants reevaluation of the complaint.
2. A complaint is made against the same individual(s) or GPUS organizational element (e.g., committee) for a similar but otherwise entirely new violation which is itself deemed actionable.

III.4.b. A complaint will not be reopened on the basis of a new complaint of violation if the alleged new violation is not similar to or related to the closed complaint.

III.4.c. A complaint that has been reopened for one of the reasons above will be processed anew in accordance with the above procedures.

III.4.d. A reopened complaint may be considered on its own, or combined with a new complaint if appropriate.

Resources

CONTACT: Bryce Davis, CONTACT: Bryce Davis, GPVA Co-chair, bad1128@gmail.com; Tina Rockett, GPVA Co-chair, roktt@icloud.com; B. Sidney Smith, GPVA Secretary, bsidneysmith@gmail.com.

References

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