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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
The Campaign Violation Case Clayton Hinton V. Milbourne Kelly
Docket No: E 051-0005
Presiding: Walt J. Grayson
Hearing Date: March 22nd, 2018
Hearing Time: 6:00 pm
Hearing Location: App Hall 085
1. Complainant Name (The Name of the Campaign Filing the Case): Jeremiah Bradshaw
2. The Date and Time the Complaint is Filed: March 21st, 2018
3. The Name of the Campaign (or campaign with which individuals are affiliated) that violated the
rule(s): Clayton Hinton
4. Cite Rules (Bylaws) that have allegedly violated (please list each Bylaw violated separately).
Please list using Article and Section Numbers of the Bylaws:
Article II, Section VII, Number 3, Sections a.
a. Elections Court is charged with the adjudication and resolution of questions
related to alleged violations of elections policies, actions of individuals,
interpretation of policies, and other related matters in accordance with these
Bylaws, all Student Government governing documents, University Policy, and
Local, State, and Federal Law.
Article II, Section VII, Number 3, Section b.
b. Determine responsibility of parties involved and render sanctions using
preponderance of the evidence in the case a violation(s) has taken place.
5. Explain the alleged offense (what happened). Be sure to provide thorough evidence,
documentation, witness testimony, and more to support your case. You may attach addenda or
additional pages/documents to this form:
During regular campaigning, the Clayton Hinton campaign noticed that the material used in the
Milbourne Kelly platform looked familiar. Upon investigation, it became clear that the Milbourne
Kelly campaign used material from the Clayton Lee Campaign of 2017. Furthermore, the
wording, structure, and pillars of the Milbourne Kelly campaign plagiarized material from the
Clayton Lee Platform from the previous year; as well as look of graphics; considering borders;
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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
gradients; logo positioning; and platform table of content (formatting). We are extremely
concerned about the implications of this incident, due to the fact that the creator of the original
material, Jeremiah Bradshaw, is also working for the Clayton Hinton campaign this year and has
complete copyright control over the stated works.
6. Witnesses (please list all witnesses you would like to be present at the hearing to testify). De sure
to include their email addresses: Anderson Clayton, Jeremiah Bradshaw, Andrew Strahan, Chris
Hinton
7. Counsel (According to the Elections Bylaws you may appoint a student, community member, etc.
to argue on your behalf during the hearing. You must be present during all hearings regardless of
appointed counsel). List the name(s) and email(s) of your counsel: Amanda Lago, Chris Hinton,
Jeremiah.
8. Availability (please provide your campaigns broad availability over the next 72 hours): March
22nd, 2018 12:00 pm to 2:00 pm
9. Additional Comments: We look forward to actions being taken in regards to the theft and
plagiarism of Jeremiah Bradshaw’s intellectual property.
10. Once you have completed this form, have an EAB member that is assigned to your team sign off.
If you filled out number 4 on this form they are required per the Bylaws to sign off. If they
consent to signing, you may write that they agreed to sign on the form without having their
physical signature. Once you have received their signature and the form is complete email to Walt
Grayson (Elections Court Chair) at [email protected] .
11. You will receive an update within 24 hours of your email regarding the hearing.
Verified by Aaliyah Griffin on March 21st 2018
Rationale: Clayton Hinton V. Milbourne Kelly - No. 051-0005
Determination of Responsibility: Not Responsible
The Clayton Hinton Campaign accused the Milbourne Kelly Campaign of violating Article II, Section VII,
Subsection 3, Section a:
a. Elections Court is charged with the adjudication and resolution of questions related to alleged
violations of elections policies, actions of individuals, interpretation of policies, and other related matters
in accordance with these Bylaws, all Student Government governing documents, University Policy, and
Local, State, and Federal Law.
The Court believes that the Milbourne Kelly campaign did not willfully plagiarize material from the
Clayton Hinton or Clayton Lee Campaign, however the Court holds that based on the preponderance of
the evidence a negligent actor may have been influenced by the materials. The Court specifically cited
that there is no statute within the Elections Bylaws that deals with plagiarism or copyright.
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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
It is important to note the Court used the copyright infringement document to make their decisions at
the guidance of the complainant.
In regards to the Appalachian State University Organizational Code of Conduct. The Court determined no
violation of 4.12 due to the word “property” within the policy. There is no mention of intellectual
property and the court defined “property” within this statute to mean physical or real property.
In regard to 4.14 of the code, the Court determined there was no violation because the actual policy cited
because requires a student to violate a federal law.
The Federal Code that was submitted cited three essential copyright crimes: Commercial advantage for
private financial gain, willful infringement by the reproduction or distribution by electronic means, during
any 180 day period (statute of limitation) and a Commercial Distribution. All of these crimes are
considered willful acts by federal law - the Court determined previously that the acts considered in this
case were of negligence.
In regard to 4.15 of the code, the Court determined there was no violation because the actual law cited
requires the student to violate the student code of conduct.
In regards to the ASU Code of Student Conduct, the Court did not find a violation of 4.02 “accessory”
because there was no substantial evidence to prove this was “willful” or “prohibited conduct”. In regards
to 4.19 the Court defined property as “physical or real”. In regards to 4.22 the Court was unable to cite a
law that was violated. In regards to 4.23 the Court was unable to find a University policy that this conduct
violated.
The Court determined that the complainant did not provide enough evidence to prove that a violation of
a national or organizational policy took place - there was no mention of such policy from the complainant.
The qualifier in the definition of intellectual property “similar to the way” gives the court further evidence
to believe, based on the preponderance of the evidence, that intellectual property is distinctly different
from property as cited in the university code.
The Court is dismayed that they were unable to find a substantive statute that would support any
negligence on behalf of the respondent due to the incredibly striking similarities between the materials
and documents submitted.
The Court Chairman ruled the Kendrick Dawson verbal testimony regarding the links to his former
campaign websites as inadmissible due to the fact the materials were not submitted in writing as
mandated in The Formal Rules and Regulations of a Judicial Proceeding.
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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
Cla
yto
n.H
into
n V
iola
tion
Evid
en
ce
Ag
ain
st M
ilbo
urn
e.K
elly
P
. 1
Wh
ite a
cce
nt
line
cre
atin
g a
ho
llow
sq
ua
re
inla
id b
etw
ee
n
55
to 6
5 p
ixe
ls
from
the
ed
ge
of th
e g
rap
hic
.
Circ
ula
r
pic
toria
l log
o,
loc
ate
d in
the
ve
rtica
l ce
nte
r
of th
e g
rap
hic
,
an
d p
ositio
ne
d
on
the
low
er
ha
lf ove
rlay
ing
the
wh
ite
acce
nt lin
e.
Co
lore
d g
rad
ien
t
sta
rting
alo
ng
the
ba
se
ed
ge
an
d
tran
sitio
nin
g to
100
% o
pa
city
~2
5%
of th
e w
ay
up
the
gra
ph
ic.
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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
Cla
yto
n.H
into
n V
iola
tion
Evid
en
ce
Ag
ain
st M
ilbo
urn
e.K
elly
P. 2
Fa
ce
bo
ok
Pro
file
Fra
me
. Milb
ou
rne
.Ke
lly p
oste
d th
eir fra
me
2 h
ou
rs a
nd
21 m
inu
te
s
follo
win
g w
he
n C
lay
ton
.Hin
ton
po
ste
d th
eirs
(hig
hlig
hte
d w
ithin
gre
en
ind
ica
tor).
Th
e fra
me
Me
lbo
urn
e.K
elly
fra
me
is s
imila
r to
the
Cla
yto
n.H
into
n fra
me
an
d c
arrie
s
ove
r co
pie
d g
rap
hic
al e
lem
en
ts a
s s
tate
from
pa
ge
1 of th
is d
oc
um
en
t.
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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
Cla
yto
n.H
into
n V
iola
tion
Evid
en
ce
Ag
ain
st M
ilbo
urn
e.K
elly
P
. 3
Milb
ou
rne
.Ke
lly’s
‘vo
ting
eve
nt’ o
n F
ac
eb
oo
k h
as a
n e
ve
nt c
ove
r ph
oto
tha
t ca
rries o
ve
r co
pie
d g
rap
hic
al
ele
me
nts
as s
tate
from
pa
ge
1 an
d 2
of th
is d
oc
um
en
t. Sp
ec
ific
ally
for th
is g
rap
hic
, ele
me
nts
tha
t are
co
pie
d c
om
e fro
m b
oth
de
sig
n o
f ca
mp
aig
ns o
f 20
17 a
nd
20
18. E
lem
en
ts in
clu
de
; ca
nd
ida
te p
ho
tog
rap
h
justifi
ed
on
ha
lf of th
e g
rap
hic
, ac
ce
nt lin
e o
ve
rlaid
on
a m
ajo
rity o
f the
gra
ph
ic e
xce
pt fo
r are
as w
he
re
the
ca
nd
ida
te(s
) are
bro
ug
ht fo
rwa
rd a
bo
ve
the
ac
ce
nt lin
e (h
igh
ligh
te
d w
ithin
gre
en
ind
ica
tor), c
olo
r
ove
rlay
tha
t the
n tra
nsitio
ns w
ith a
gra
die
nt to
so
sh
ow
the
ph
oto
gra
ph
of th
at c
an
did
ate
an
d is
a
cu
rve
d g
rad
ien
t, an
d th
e o
rde
r of th
e ty
pe
ove
r co
lor o
ve
rlay
with
circ
ula
r pic
to
rial lo
go
loc
ate
d in
the
ho
rizo
nta
l ce
nte
r of g
rap
hic
justifi
ed
op
po
sit
e fro
m p
ho
tog
rap
h o
f ca
nd
ida
tes.
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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
Cla
yto
n.H
into
n V
iola
tion
Evid
en
ce
Ag
ain
st M
ilbo
urn
e.K
elly
P. 4
Milb
ou
rne
.Ke
lly’s
‘pla
tform
gra
ph
ic’ c
arrie
s o
ve
r co
pie
d
gra
ph
ica
l ele
me
nts
as s
tate
from
pa
ge
1 an
d 2
of th
is d
oc
um
en
t.
Sp
ec
ific
ally
for th
is g
rap
hic
,
ele
me
nts
tha
t are
co
pie
d c
om
e
from
de
sig
n o
f 20
17 c
am
pa
ign
.
Ele
me
nts
inc
lud
e; c
an
did
ate
ph
oto
gra
ph
fac
ing
aw
ay
from
the
ca
me
ra w
ith th
e m
ou
nta
ins in
the
ba
ck
gro
un
d, a
nd
pla
tform
form
at
of p
illar a
nd
pilla
r title.
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213 Plemmons Student Union · [email protected] · Boone, 28607
Cla
yto
n.H
into
n V
iola
tion
Evid
en
ce
Ag
ain
st M
ilbo
urn
e.K
elly
P. 5
Milb
ou
rne
.Ke
lly’s
pla
tform
form
at c
op
ies g
rap
hic
al e
lem
en
ts fro
m th
e C
lay
ton
.Le
e d
esig
n o
f 20
17
ca
mp
aig
n. E
lem
en
ts in
clu
de
; ac
ce
nt lin
e fra
min
g e
ve
ry p
ag
e o
f the
do
cu
me
nt, u
se
of title
“TA
BLE
OF
PIL
LA
RS
,” pic
toria
l log
o lo
ca
ted
at th
e to
p o
f do
cu
me
nt o
ve
r ac
ce
nt lin
e ju
stifi
ed
ho
rizo
nta
lly c
en
tere
d,
‘pilla
rs’ o
n th
e “T
AB
LE
OF
PIL
LA
RS
” pa
ge
are
justifi
ed
se
qu
en
tially
left-rig
ht-le
ft-righ
t-left w
ith ‘p
illar’
su
mm
ary
un
de
r ‘pilla
r’ title,’ a
nd
use
of a
ll ca
ps fo
r “TA
BLE
OF
PIL
LA
RS
” an
d ‘p
illar’ title
s.
