I'm having some trouble following the legal aspects of this discussion, but, for what it's worth (maybe nothing, strike that, probably nothing), here's part of our local
Code Of Ethics And Conduct For Board Members:
Board members shall not be party to actions designed to unfairly limit or restrain access to officiating, officiating assignments or association membership. This includes selection for positions of leadership based upon economic factors, race, creed, color, age, sex, physical disability, country of national origin.
Here in Connecticut, our local IAABO boards hire commissioners who are responsible for assigning regular season games, and said commissioners are also local board members.
To inject some Devil's' advocate
silliness into this thread, we already have one deaf official (who is quite good). What happens when a legally blind person, or a person in a wheelchair, wants to become an official? Are there limits? Can anyone (short of not passing a criminal background check) be denied? What if they can't pass the written rule test, or the floor exam, due to a physical disability? Will the civil liberty lawyers get them out of "non-officiating jail"? I'm a retired middle school teacher, and we had to adjust exams for various physical, and mental, disabilities for many students. Will we have to give our written rules exam in a language other than English, like they do for our State Department of Motor Vehicles drivers license exam? Braille? Another random thought: After perusing the "list", I find it interesting that sexual orientation is not included in our local Code above. Is anything else missing? What if a faith-based school requests that no gay officials be assigned there? Again, these are random thoughts. Curiosity killed the cat, and, maybe, can kill BillyMac.
Man, this is a complicated topic, that can make your head spin, whether you're a conservative, or a progressive.
