Office of the Society Seneschal
2322 Russell Street, Berkeley, CA 94705-1926
(510) 486-0633 (Evening) . seneschal@sca.org

23 April 1998

Mr. Pat Cuccurello
Dallas, TX 75240

Dear Mr. Cuccurello:

At the April 1998 quarterly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc. (SCA), the Directors completed their investigation into revocation and/or denial of your membership in the SCA based on your alleged actions involving the 1997 Estrella War and other matters which arose in the investigations conducted by the Kingdom of Atenveldt. That investigation led to the following statement being read into the Mintues of the meeting (from the unapproved Minutes of the meeting):

"As a result of our investigation of Estrella War XIII, we find that the then Crowns, Kingdom Treasurer, Kingdom Seneschal and War Autocrats violated Corpora, then applicable Atenveldt Kingdom Law, and Society Branch Financial Policy. These violations include, but are not limited to:

• _Corpora_: VI.A.1.c.(1), VI.A.1.d.(1)
• _SCA Financial Policy_: IIB, IIIA, IVA, VIC, VIII
• _Then applicable Atenveldt Kingdom Law_: III.A.2.b, III.B.1.c, III.B.1.h, III.B.2.b, III.B.2.c, IV.A.4.b, IV.B.4.a, IV.B.4.b, XI.A, XII.J.
• _Atenveldt Fiscal Policy_ I.1.

Because of these violations, we assess the following sanctions:

Motion by Susan Earley to sanction Patrick Cuccurello, and to restrict him from holding any office, fighting or being fought for in Royal Tournaments, or autocratting events for a period of 30 months, commencing from this date. Seconded. In favor: Michael Cohen, Susan Earley, Mark Long, Keith MacInnes, Carol O'Leary, Ora Robinson. Opposed: none. Motion carried."

While the Directors have chosen not to revoke and/or deny your membership at this time, any violation of these sanctions which is brought to their attention will result in the reopening of the investigation and the probable issuance of additional sanctions. This decision may be appealed to the Directors; however, such an appeal will only be accepted by the Board if it contains new information warranting a re-examination of the issues.

If you have any questions about any of this, please feel free to write me, or to call me during the evenings at 510-486-0633.

In service to the Society
[signed]
Lee Forgue
Society Seneschal

cc: files
Seneschal of Atenveldt
Ombudsman for Atenveldt
TRM of Atenveldt

It came in today's mail. It's 3 pages out of a several hundred page book called the "Chancellor of the Exchequer Officer's Handbook", edited by Susan Early. You will find her name on "The Letter Verbatim" as the person who moved that Pat be sanctioned. (Ghita)

I will list the reference notations from Pet's "The Letter Verbatim", then quote the section.

II. SIGNATORIES

B.

"At least two officers of the same branch must be listed as signatories, as well as the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer or a designated representative. For non-branch accounts, the officer and another local person must be listed as signatories, as well as the Kingdom Chancellor of the Exchequer or a designated representative. For a Kingdom account, The Society Chancellor of the Exchequer must be a signatory."

III. SEGREGATION OF DUTIES

A.

"No one person may be responsible for all aspects of a branch's financial management. These responsibilities may include writing checks, balancing bank statements, and deciding on dispursement of funds."

IV. FINANCIAL RECORDS

A.

"The Chancellor of the Exchequer will maintain permanent books and records of all financial activity. Detailed records must be maintained, and receipts , dispursements, and contributions specifically itemized. Where a system is automated, printouts ("hard copy") of computerized records will be made as well as backup files/disks."

VI. FINANCIAL COMMITTEES AND EXPENSE AUTHORIZATION POLICY

C.

"Fully documented receipts must be provided to support all expenses. This rule applies to anyone expecting reimbursement. Emergency situations are handled on a case-by-case basis within each kingdom as per their Kingdom Law and Kingdom Financial Policy."

VIII. CONTROLLING CASH ADVANCES

"Cash advances will be documented beforehand and treated as a receivable item until they are reconciled by presentation of receipts and/or cash totalling the amount of the advance. Reconciliation of cash advances must occur within 90 days of the advance."

Corpora: VI.A.1.c.(1), VI.A.1.d.(1) - Refer to Royalty only. And the wording offers no way to apply it to anyone other than Royalty. Are Autocrats Royalty?

This document is part of Appendix A of the Chancellor of the Exchequer Officer's Handbook.

I.1

"All chancellors of the Exchequer within the Kingdom of Atenveldt shall follow generally accepted accounting procedures and refer to the Kingdom Exchequer Policy Manual for specific instruction."

We also point out the following Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

1. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
2. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.
3. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.
4. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.
5. A. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence.
   B. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.
6. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
   
7. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
   

You are invited to compare Pat's and Ronnie's statements with this section of the list of violations of which he is supposedly guilty, and draw your own conclusions.