A nominee for the Indiana University Student Supreme Court was recently voted down due to an IDS opinion article he wrote supporting federal law enforcement officers.
Landon Muzzillo, a senior at IU, wrote the 2018 article in an effort to show his support for and offer an alternative viewpoint regarding the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The op-ed, titled “ICE is Under Attack for Doing Its Job,” voiced Muzzillo’s dismay at the national outrage in response to the apprehension of Joel Arrona-Lara, an undocumented immigrant who was arrested while driving his wife to a scheduled C-section.
Critics decried the arrest as inhumane due to Arrona-Lara wife’s condition. ICE responded to the accusations, stating that Arrona-Lara was not only in the country illegally, but was also wanted by the Mexican authorities on homicide charges.
During an Oversight and Reform Committee confirmation hearing, concerns were raised by members over Muzzillo’s article, as well as over his connections to the IU College Republicans. According to a recording of the meeting obtained by Campus Reform, members asked Muzzillo what he had done to “distance” himself from the Republican Party, and whether he would commit to impartiality in his rulings.
Muzzillo affirmed that he no longer held an executive role within IU College Republicans and had taken steps to break ties with party entities that could potentially affect his judicial decisions. He additionally committed to ruling in accordance with precedent and the campus Code of Conduct, even volunteering to recuse himself if a student felt threatened or fearful due to his views.
After Muzzillo left the videoconference, Oversight and Reform Committee members discussed his nomination privately. Student Representative Willow Johnson remarked that she “cannot say yes to him because of that article” and that there were other nominees who did not need to “atone for their past actions.” Johnson additionally referred to Muzzillo’s views as “really harmful” and as “demonizing” hispanics and undocumented immigrants.
Representative Rebekah Amaya stated that Muzzillo’s potential confirmation “is actually an issue of human rights” and an “issue of how you see other human beings and the rights that they deserve or don’t deserve.”
Those in oppositions to Muzzillo’s confirmation implied that racism was the driving force behind his viewpoints, stating that many “white supremacists” wouldn’t be open about their allegiance to the ideology. They additionally asserted that simply Muzzillo’s nomination to the position had “deep implications of over criminalization of Black and brown students.”
Muzzillo was subsequently voted down in a 3-4 decision, preventing his nomination from advancing to the full student assembly. Representatives Kyle Reynolds, Garrett Wright, and Kye Zimmerman voted yay, while Rebekah Amaya, Willow Johnson, Jack Milton, and Austin Cornell voted nay.
When asked by the Crimson Post how he felt about the denial, Muzzillo replied, “It was unfortunate that I wasn’t able to present myself in front of the whole student Congress. I believe there was a false negative perception of me based on the Oversight interview, and I didn’t get the opportunity to tell my side.”
Muzzillo continued, “As for how I feel about it now, I’m plenty busy so I’m not too strung up about it, although I do believe it would’ve been a good opportunity and the right fit.”
