Mel's Petition to Amend Bylaws of AML

Below is the text of the petition that Mel Dahl has put together to amend the AML bylaws which several of us are circulating to try to get it the 250 signatures needed to get it onto the upcoming referendum ballot. In short, the amendment would put both AMC and the membership on notice that the AMC does actually have the authority to hear an appeal related to a National Hearings Committee sanction.

If you would like to help circulate the petition, please paste the text below into the free-form box atop the basic petition form that can be found by going to http://www.us.mensa.org/election and scrolling down to the bottom, selecting the Referendum Petition Form link.

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A new Section (8) is added to Article IX, as follows:

(8) Any member who has been sanctioned by a hearing committee may appeal once to the American Mensa Committee, which shall have discretion to hear the appeal on the merits or not. A sanctioned member who wishes to appeal to the AMC shall, within thirty days of the imposition of sanctions, file a notice of appeal with the Secretary of AML, with copies to the Chair of AML, the Chair of the hearing committee that imposed the sanction, and the appropriate regional vice chair. The notice of appeal shall contain a short and concise statement of the facts of the case, the action taken by the hearing committee, and the grounds upon which the appeal is founded. The AML Secretary shall promptly transmit copies to all members of the AMC and place the matter on the agenda of the next regularly-scheduled AMC meeting.

In the event that the AMC decides to hear the appeal on the merits, the complainant may, but is not required to, provide the AMC with a short and concise statement as to why the AMC should not grant relief. The AMC may in its sole discretion determine whether to decide a merits appeal on the papers, or whether the parties shall be invited to address the AMC. Additionally, the AMC shall have sole discretion to determine the extent to which any such appeal shall be heard in executive session.

The AMC shall presume that any findings of fact made by the hearing committee are correct unless the member demonstrates that there is no reasonable basis in the evidence for said findings of fact The AMC may only overturn a decision of the hearings committee if it finds the hearing committee abused its discretion by acting illegally or in violation of AML’s by-laws, or that the proceedings were fundamentally unfair. 

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