This week Avner Swerdlow '10, representing the SunDeis Film Festival Committee, filed a suit in the Student Judiciary, formerly the Union Judiciary, against Illona Yuhaev '11 and the IndieLouie Film Festival Committee. Mr. Swerdlow claimed that the online description of IndieLouis, a new student-run Brandeis film festival, constituted slander against SunDeis. The SJ announced yesterday that it has declined to grant the case certiorari.

We believe the SJ made a sensible decision and hope it demonstrates similar practicality in the future.

As of last week, when the student body passed amendments to the Student Union constitution, the SJ also has the option to recommend that students participate in a mediation resolution process. Mediation is an ideal alternative for resolving precisely this type of dispute, and the student body was wise to pass this amendment.

Disputes such as this one are inappropriate grounds for SJ trials, and Swerdlow should not have filed a suit in the SJ.

Instead, the mediation resolution process is a useful option for ending conflicts between small groups of people.

Students who elect to participate in this process discuss this issue informally with the SJ, and if the discussions prove inconclusive, the SJ can try the case. Each party involved can express his or her opinion in a less stressful setting than an SJ trial would create.

Even outside of the mediation resolution process, students can easily find other ways to settle disagreements. For example, the parties involved can hold private discussions until they reach a conclusion.

If students feel they cannot resolve the dispute independently, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams is also available to help mediate conflicts.

In conflicts that involve larger groups, students can organize open forums and allow other students to offer their perspectives.

After Mr. Swerdlow and Ms. Yuhaev approached the SJ, Chief Justice Judah Marans reminded them that they had the option to engage in this mediation resolution process.

It is the SJ's responsibility to not only resolve conflicts but also to direct students elsewhere when a full trial is unnecessary.

In the future, the SJ should continue to alert students to the most appropriate type of resolution process for issues that may arise.