The Southampton case is headed back to court, according to New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele, Jr. (R-Sag Harbor).

According to the legislator, the Stony Brook University Council broke the State Open Meetings Law at their Oct. 4 meeting, where the Council decided to stand by President Samuel L. Stanley Jr.’s decision to relocate academic programs and close residence halls at the Stony Brook Southampton Campus.

“The fact that the Council met for two hours in Executive Session on the Southampton campus closure and then voted in two minutes without any debate or discussion certainly raised the specter of illegal action,” Thiele said.

“The University Council had every right to discuss the litigation and strategy itself, in executive session,” he added. “However, any discussion of the merits President Stanley’s plan to close the Southampton campus, the pros and cons, is required by state law to be in a public session. The University Council clearly violated the law.”

The administration and Council members are legally bound not to speak because the case is still in court, said Lauren Sheprow, interim director of the university’s media relations.

“We watched the video of the meeting,” said Russell Penzer, the students’ attorney. “We believe that the meeting entirely fails to cure the defect of the process that the courts had relied upon.”