In a stunning and surprising move which has implications for every U.S. Citizen who belongs to a special interest social club such as flying, photography, tropical fish, gardening, or amateur radio (cited by the courts as examples), the U.S. Supreme Court today decided, in a landmark case, that such clubs must diversify their focus if three or more members belong to a minority group. As an example, a gardening club which has a predominantly female membership, but which also has 3 or more male members, must allow for diversification of interests, based upon the needs/wishes of the minority group. The garden club may also have to include a group devoted to Automobile customizing. Additionally, the decision specified that over the course of a club’s calendar year, equal time must be given to the minority interests. The decision mandated that all affected organizations must effect changes within the next 30 days.
Extraordinary measures were taken by the U.S. Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation to notify the governing bodies of said organizations of the new requirements and time constraints. As a result of these actions, the Nashua Area Radio Club was notified by the ARRL last week that, due to the fact that females were a minority within NARC, and that minority contained three or more members, the club must rewrite its Constitution and by-laws to conform to the new laws, and must change its name accordingly.
As a consequence of these mandates, the Board of Directors of the Nashua Area Radio Club met in Plenary Session with representatives of the minority, and hammered out, over the course of two days of intense and heated debate, the following of changes to the Constitution and by-laws:
Pictured are six of the seven ladies who
helped ‘craft’ the Constitutional changes.
The seventh was behind the camera.The action of the Supreme Court was initially triggered by a class-action suit brought in Louisiana courts. Members of the Associated Photographic Reconnaissance Institute of Louisiana and the Flying Octogenarians Of Louisiana were successfully sued by distaff members of their respective organizations. In a set of subsequent appeals, the case eventually reached the Supreme Court. Speaking for the majority, Supreme Court Justice Evinrude Penobscott said “This action goes a long way in correcting past injustices, and is vital to the health of our nation in this day and age of Unisex and political correctness.”
Members of the Board of Directors of the ARRL and the Board of Directors of the old Nashua Area Radio Club were unavailable for comment. These organizational changes will take effect on April 1, 1999.