Judicial Committee to Hear New Appeals

Two appeals have been received and approved by the LNC Judicial Committee.  The appeals, drafted by Mr. Jonathan Jacobs, are titled Jacobs-vs-LNC and may be read here. These appeals are not the same as the three appeals generated by Hector Roos and friends, some of which have also been sent to the Judicial Committee.

There are effectively two separate appeals included. First, is the appeal for improper notice that applies to both of these original main motions. Second, is the appeal is that Resolution 1, as worded, violates the bylaws, affiliate autonomy, and the rights of future convention delegates.

The motions in question are the motions on the special investigatory committee report on LNC financial transfers.

The first issue is that significant motions at LNC special meetings must have their text transmitted to the LNC at least five days in advance (with certain exceptions not relevant here).  Jacobs asserts that the texts of the motions were not transmitted in advance, and are not in the special report as transmitted.

The second issue is that the motions could be interpreted as barring Angela McArdle from holding future office in the LNC or an affiliate, which the LNC does not have the authority to do.

Not raised as an issue is the assertion by Austin Martin that debate in the secret meeting that discussed the report was limited to two minutes per member, which if true for a report of this length would have been facially absurd.

For the curious, the motions were:

“Whereas the Special Investigatory Committee finds that former Chair Angela McArdle violated her fiduciary duty to the Libertarian Party by concealing conflicts of interest and misusing donor funds, be it hereby resolved that the Libertarian National Committee deems Angela McArdle unfit to serve on the Libertarian National Committee, as an affiliate leader or as a candidate representing the Libertarian Party.
Be it further resolved that the Libertarian National Committee encourages the Bylaws Committee to review and propose bylaws changes that would codify the handling of members found to have engaged in financial malfeasance and/or other egregious actions.”

and:

“Whereas the Special Investigatory Committee finds that former Chair Angela McArdle financially benefitted from her deception of the Libertarian National Committee,
And whereas the Libertarian National Committee is unlikely to recover the full amount of misappropriated funds without incurring costs above that which was misappropriated,
Be it resolved that the Libertarian National Committee shall explore fundraising and/or pro bono legal counsel to pursue the recovery of funds, under any legal procedures available, as outlined in this report and any supplemental report(s) produced by the Special Investigatory Committee.”