NEBLSA Constitution

National Black Law Students Association NORTHEAST REGION CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I NAME AND PURPOSE Section 1. Name.

The name of the organization shall be the Northeast Regional Black Law Students Association (hereinafter referred to as “NEBLSA�).

Section 2. Purpose.

The purpose of NEBLSA shall be to utilize the collective resources of the member chapters to: A. articulate and promote the needs and goals of Black law students, locally and within the northeast region; B. foster and encourage an attitude of professional competence among Black law students; C. focus on the relationship between Black law students, Black attorneys, to the American legal structure, and the Black community; D. serve as a source of information for prospective and current Black law students in the northeast region; E. develop means and programs to bring the legal training of our members to bear upon the problems, legal and non-legal, in the Black community; F. create greater awareness in Black attorneys and law students of the needs of the Black community and encourage greater commitment to addressing those needs; G. encourage Black law students to pursue careers in the judiciary; and H. encourage law schools to bring about changes which will make them more responsive to the needs of Black law student, the Black community and society in general.

ARTICLE II MEMBERSHIP Section 1. Eligibility for Membership.

Membership shall be limited to local chapters of Black Law Student Associations in the Northeast Region: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Northern New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Section 2. Classification of Membership.

A. Chapter Memberships. Active membership with NEBLSA shall consist of all chapters eligible for membership who have (i) fulfill the requirements prescribed in Article II, Section A of this document (ii) fulfilled their financial obligations of membership; and (iii) submitted all necessary paperwork to determine the number of affiliated members in its chapter. Any chapter that does not fulfill the requirements mentioned above shall be considered inactive.

B. Individual Memberships

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i. Active Members. An Active Member shall consist of any person who (i) resides within NEBLSA, (ii) is affiliated with an active Chapter in NEBLSA, and (iii) has fulfilled any membership requirements of its affiliated Active Chapter. ii. Inactive Members. An Inactive Member shall consist of any person who does not meet any of the requirements for active membership as prescribed in Article II, Section B(1) of this document. iii. Associate Members. An Associate Member shall consist of (i) any person who was affiliated with NEBLSA during their tenure in law school and has graduated from a law school; or (ii) any professional person who wishes to affiliate with NEBLSA. iv. Honorary Members. An Honorary Member shall consist of any person recognized as an Honorary Member by the Chamber of Delegates. An honorary member title is perpetual, that is, unless rescinded by a simple majority vote of the Chamber of Delegates. v. Honorary Officers. An honorary officer position shall be awarded, after his or her term of office, to an officer of NEBLSA who has shown outstanding service and contribution to NEBLSA. An Honorary Officer title is perpetual, that is, unless rescinded by a simple majority vote of the Chamber of Delegates.

Section 3. Rights of Membership A. Active Chapters shall have the right to attend meetings, participate in programs, vote at any plenary session sponsored by the Region or its respective Sub-Region, and carryout any other right, duties, and privileges prescribed in any governing document of the Region.

B. Active Members shall have the right to attend meetings, serve as a delegate, participate in programs, run for any regional office pursuant to the rules prescribed in any governing document of the Region, and carryout any other rights, duties, and privileges prescribed in any governing document of the Region.

C. Associate and Honorary Members and Honorary Officers shall have a right to attend meetings of the Region and to speak, but not to make motions or vote unless the person is an Active Member of the Region.

D. Inactive Chapters and Members shall have no voting privileges nor participate in any programs; although, with the approval of the Regional Executive Board or Chamber of Delegates, Inactive Chapters and Members may attend meetings and programs of the Region.

Section 4. Duties of Membership A. Aspirational Duties: The Active Chapters and Members of NEBLSA shall strive to carry out the following duties: i. Regularly participate in the activities of NEBLSA. ii. Host or participate in community service projects and activities within their local communities. iii. Ensure the academic achievement of all of its affiliated members.

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iv. Effectuate change at their respective law schools by hosting innovative informative programming and by seeking leadership positions at their law schools.

B. Obligatory Duties: The Active Chapters and Members of NEBLSA shall carry out the following duties: v. Submit, to the appropriate Regional official, a list of Active Members in the Chapter, the governing documents of the Chapter, information concerning the Chapter dues rate for affiliated members of the Chapter, any financial information, including a banking statement, as requested by the Executive Board. vi. Submit any information requested by the Historian or Treasurer. vii. The ranking member, or a person designated by the ranking member, of each Active Chapter shall attend any special meeting called by the Chapter’s respective Regional Director relating to the business of NEBLSA or the Sub-Region. viii. Attend the annual meeting at a Regional Convention and shall have at least one delegate represent the Chapter in the plenary sessions of the Chamber of Delegates. ix. Carry out any other duties prescribed in any governing document adopted by NEBLSA. Section 5. Resignation of Membership A. An individual member may resign from NEBLSA either explicitly by submitting a written statement to the Regional Board that expresses the member’s intention to resign or tacitly by the overt actions of the individual member that suggests to the members of the Regional Board that the member no longer wishes to be affiliated with NEBLSA. B. An affiliated Chapter may resign from NEBLSA by submitting a written statement signed by the affiliated Chapter’s ranking officer to the Regional Board that expresses the affiliated Chapters intent to be non-affiliated with NEBLSA. C. Resignation of membership in NEBLSA shall not affect an individual member’s or an affiliated Chapter’s membership status in the National organization, and the resigning member or affiliated Chapter shall follow any resignation procedures adopted by the National Chapter in order to resign his or her its National membership status.

ARTICLE III OFFICERS Section 1. General.

A. The Northeast Regional Executive Committee Officers shall consist of the following: i. Elected Officials (Chamber of Delegates) 3

a) Regional Chair; b) Regional Vice-Chair; c) Regional Secretary; d) Regional Treasurer; e) Sub-Regional Directors; f) Regional Director of Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition; g) Regional Director of the Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition; h) Regional Community Service Director; i) Regional Director of Programming; and j) Regional Attorney General ii. Appointed Officials a) Regional Parliamentarian; b) Regional Convention Coordinator; c) Regional Job Fair Coordinator; d) Regional Executive Director; e) Regional Director of Membership; f) Regional Director of the College Student Division g) Regional Director of Corporate Relations; and h) Regional Historian Section 2. Eligibility for Executive Candidacy.

A. Persons eligible to hold an office on the Regional Executive Board of NEBLSA must be an active member of an active chapter of NEBLSA. B. All candidates for an Executive Committee position must submit the following: i. a letter from the BLSA chapter which he or she is a member stating that the candidate has met all of his or her financial obligations to the chapter. ii. a letter of intent to the Regional Chair, or other designated individual of the Executive Committee. iii. a letter from the registrar of the law school to which he or she is presently matriculated stating that the candidate is in satisfactory academic standing.

C. Any Active Member seeking the candidacy for the position of Regional Chair must have served on the Regional Board, a Regional committee, or as an assistant or staff to an officer or entity of NEBLSA, in order to qualify as a candidate for the Regional Chair position. If only one Active Member meets the qualification for Regional Chair prescribed in this Subsection, then the requirement shall be waived to allow candidates who would otherwise be unqualified for the Regional Chair position to run for office.

D. Any Active Member seeking the appointment as Regional Convention Coordinator must reside in the state in which a regional convention shall be held.

Section 3. Nominations.

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A. An Active Member who meets the eligibility requirements set forth in Article III, Section II of this article shall be nominated for the candidacy of an elected office by: i. Submitting a Statement of Intent Form to the Elections and Credentials Committee before the Regional Convention; or ii. Submitting a Statement of Intent Form to the Elections and Credentials Committee or Regional Chair (24) hours before the election; B. An Active Member shall generally be allowed to run for one elected office except in the following situation: i. A candidate may only hold one elected position. ii. No one shall be allowed to run for more than two (2) elected positions.

C. The Elections and Credentials Committee shall adopt a reasonable procedure to determine if a person nominated from the floor at a plenary session at the Regional Convention for an elected officer position is actually an Active Member of NEBLSA. D. A person shall not be nominated on the floor for an office unless there has been no statement submitted prior to the elections for that position.

E. In the case of appointed officer positions, the appointing authority may adopt its own nomination procedure, if any at all.

Section 4. Ratification of Appointed Officers.

The Regional Parliamentarian, Convention Coordinator, Job Fair Coordinator, Executive Director, Director of Membership, Regional Historian, Director of the College Student Division; and the Corporate Relations Directors shall be appointed to office by the Chair-Elect, and shall be non-voting positions.

Section 5. Election of Elected Positions.

A. Votes for elected officers shall be by ballot unless there is only one nominee for office. In cases where there is only one nominee for office, the election vote may be by viva voce at a plenary session of the Chamber of Delegates at the annual meeting at a Regional Convention.

B. The candidate that receives a simple majority of votes shall be declared the winner of the election.

Accordingly, a run-off election shall be held until a simple majority is reached.

C. Proxy Votes and Absentee votes shall not be allowed in the election of officers for NEBLSA in the Chamber of Delegates.

D. Teller’s Report i. After counting the ballots, the Election and Credentials Committee shall prepare a Teller’s Report to be presented to the presiding officer of the plenary session of the Chamber of Delegates at a Regional Convention that contains the number of votes cast, the number of 5

votes necessary for election, the number of votes received by each candidate, and the number of illegal votes with a brief statement as to the reason for the illegality. ii. The Teller’s Report shall be submitted to the presiding officer of the plenary session of the Chamber of Delegates at a Regional Convention who shall then declare the result of the election. iii. The Teller’s Report shall be made available immediately to any Active Member or Chapter of NEBLSA after the election results have been declared.

E. In the case of a tie, the presiding officer of the plenary session of the Chamber of Delegates shall be vested with the power to break tie votes or call for a revote.

F. Ballots submitted in the election shall be destroyed one calendar day at the end of the Regional Convention unless there is a formal written challenge to the vote.

G. Before the close of the Regional Convention, a candidate has a right to inspect all of the physical ballots submitted for the position to which he was a candidate.

H. The Elections and Credentials Committee may recommend the adoption of other rules concerning elections that are consistent with the provisions of this document to the Regional Directors or Chamber of Delegates.

Section 6. Term of Office.

All Executive Committee Officers shall hold office for a term of one (1) year, commencing on May 1 and terminating on April 30 of the following year. No person may hold more than one (1) Executive Committee office at the same time Section 7. Vacancies.

The following rules shall apply when an officer position is vacant: A. With the exception of the positions of Regional Chair and Regional Vice Chair, should a position become vacant because of the death, resignation, removal from office, inability or failure to qualify, temporary incapacity, or absence, the appointing authority shall appoint a new Active Member to the vacant appointed position; in the case of an elected officer, with the exception of a regional director, the Regional Chair shall select a new Active Member to the vacant elected position B. Should a position become vacant because no one ever applied for the vacant position or chose to be elected to the position, the Regional Chair shall appoint an Active Member for those positions.

Section 8. Holding More than One Office.

A. With the exception of the Regional Chair, an officer of NEBLSA shall not hold an officer position on the National Executive Board, unless the position on the National Executive Board is a counterpart to the Regional position.

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B. In cases where there is a vacancy of an appointed officer position or where no one applied for an elected officer position, an existing officer of NEBLSA shall be permitted to hold multiple offices as long the vacant position does not create a conflict of interest with the officer’s existing position.

Section 9. Impeachment of Officers.

A. Any member of the Executive Committee failing to attend three (3) consecutive Executive Committee meetings, or submit three (3) consecutive reports and, in the case of Sub-Regional Directors’ failure to hold (1) meeting in their sub-region each semester, shall be subject to disciplinary actions and sanctions. Such actions and sanctions may include impeachment.

B. Impeachment must include an effort to notify the officer subjected to disciplinary C. Any member of the Executive Committee may be impeached for just cause by a simple majority vote by the Chamber of Delegates, which may be made by absentee ballot, or by a three-fourths vote by the Appointed and Elected officials with a vote of no confidence.

D. The Tribunal shall automatically impeach any officer of NEBLSA, whether elected or appointed, if that officer has been found to have committed gross mismanagement of funds, fraud, or theft during his or her tenure of office.

E. For the purposes of this document, “just cause” shall include, but not be limited to, actions where the officer has failed to perform a duty of office or attend a substantial number of requisite meetings, theft, fraud, or engaging in conduct detrimental to the well-being of NEBLSA.

ARTICLE IV MEETINGS Section 1. Regional Executive Board Meetings.

A. The presiding officer of the Regional Board, or by request of twenty-percent of the Board’s members, shall call a meeting of the Regional Board by issuing a call for the meeting to the members of the Regional Board at least six weeks before the intended date of the meeting. The call shall contain a tentative agenda for the meeting and the proposed time, place, and location of the meeting.

B. Any other rules concerning Regional Board meetings, such as defining the requisite number of meetings and the location of such meetings, shall be prescribed in an executive order by the presiding officer of the Regional Board.

C. All members of the Executive Board are required to attend every Board meeting. If a Regional Board member is unable to attend a Board meeting, that member shall inform the Regional Chair, in writing, of his or her inability to attend at least forty-eight hours before the scheduled meeting.

Officers who do not attend must show good cause for their absence. Good cause will be determined by the Regional Chair, Vice-Chair, and Secretary.

D. Minutes of the meeting of the Regional Executive Board must be made available, upon request, to any local chapter or chapter member.

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E. A quorum of the Regional Board shall consist of a simple majority of its members in addition to at least one representative from the Sub-Regional chairs.

ARTICLE V COMMITTEES Section 1. Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee shall have the power to administer any and all programs or business matters concerning NEBLSA. The Executive Committee shall have the power to make immediate decisions on such matter. In addition, the Executive Committee shall have the power to create such other committees as it deems necessary to carry out the business of NEBLSA. Section 2. Standing Committees.

The committees must account by written report to the Executive Committee and the General Assembly. In addition to the Executive Committee, the following shall be standing committees of NEBLSA. A. Admissions; B. Academics; C. Community Affairs; D. Financial Aid; E. Fundraising; F. Moot Court; G. Placement; H. Constitutional and Bylaws; and I. Political Action.

Section 3. Fundraising Committee.

The Fundraising Committee shall consist of two persons from each sub-region to be appointed by the Sub-Regional Director. The Convention Chairperson shall also serve on this committee. The Treasurer shall be the chair of this committee.

Section 4.

The committee chairs should be appointed no later than six (6) weeks after the Regional Convention.

Committees must account by written report to the Executive Committee by August 1 of that year and to the General Assembly at the following Regional Convention.

ARTICLE VI GENERAL ASSEMBLY Section 1.

The General Assembly shall be composed of all eligible member chapters of the Northeast Region, with each member chapter sending at least one (1) delegate to each regional and sub-regional meeting. The General Assembly shall meet at least three (3) times each semester. The business of the Region shall be conducted and the decisions of the Executive Committee shall be ratified at these 8

times. Sites for the scheduled meetings shall be determined prior to the first General Assembly meeting of the academic year by the Executive Committee.

Section 2.

Each member chapter is required to attend at least three (3) General Assembly meetings prior to the Regional Convention with the following criteria: A. That an attendance record be submitted to the Chair after every meeting.

ARTICLE VII Financial Affairs Section 1. Dues.

A. The assessment of membership dues shall be carried out by the National Executive Board pursuant to Article VIII of the NBLSA Constitution.

B. The annual amount of Regional dues shall be determined by the Executive Committee, subject to the ratification of the membership of the first General Assembly.

C. Payment of dues shall be a prerequisite obligation of active membership (Article II, Section II) and the rights incident thereto (Article II, Sections III).

D. The Executive Committee may waive regional dues for chapter in a given year and the chapter shall be considered an active member in hardship where: i. The chapter certifies that a hardship situation exists; ii. The chapter agrees to pay regional dues as soon as funds are available; iii. A chapter claiming hardship must verify the loss of sufficient SBA funding or its equivalent, that all due diligence was utilized to raise funds for the payment of dues and in addition, the chapter must agree to have a fundraiser specifically for regional dues; and iv. If the chapter also is unable to pay dues in the second year, they will agree to pay dues for two (2) years in order to vote at the meetings held in the third year. Dues for the third (3) year; however, will be outstanding.

E. A chapter may waive their dues once in a three (3) year period provided that a hardship situation exists.

F. Whenever an affiliated Chapter becomes delinquent in meeting its financial obligations, the Regional Board shall inform the affiliated Chapter of its delinquency and of a date whereby the affiliated Chapter shall be rendered Inactive for its nonpayment. Failure of the affiliated chapter to remedy its delinquency upon such notice from NEBLSA shall result in the affiliated Chapter losing its rights, privileges, and duties in NEBLSA, including the right to vote and have delegates in the Chamber of Delegates.

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G. The Regional Directors may assess other reasonable fees that are consistent with the governing documents of NEBLSA and of NBLSA. Section 2. Bank Accounts A. NEBLSA shall have a dual signature bank account that shall require the signature of both the Regional Chair and the Regional Treasurer before any disbursement of funds.

B. NEBLSA may have a separate bank account for the annual Regional Convention at the location of the Convention. This separate account shall be a dual signature account and the Regional Treasurer shall determine the signatories of the account.

Section 3. Bonding of Officers A. The Regional Chair and the Regional Treasurer shall be bonded.

B. The Executive Board may require the bonding of Regional officers and officers of the affiliated Chapters of NEBLSA for just cause.

Section 4. Reporting of Finances A. The Regional Treasurer shall distribute or make available a bimonthly report of the financial status of NEBLSA to the Active Chapters and Members of NEBLSA. B. The Regional Treasurer may adopt a policy to restrict (1) who the Active Chapters and Members of NEBLSA can distribute the financial report to and (2) how long an Active Chapter or Member may actually possess the financial report.

ARTICLE VIII VOTING Section 1. Plenary Sessions.

Each chapter shall be represented at all Assemblies in accordance with the number of members in the chapter.

1. Chapters with less than ten (10) members shall have one (1) vote; 2. Chapters with ten or more members but less than twenty-five (25) shall have two (2) votes; 3. Chapters with twenty-five (25) or more members but less than fifty (50) shall have three (3) votes; and 4. Chapters with fifty (50) or more members shall have four (4) votes.

The secretary shall certify the number of votes each chapter is entitled to have.

Section 2. General Elections.

1. Each chapter shall have two (2) votes in the General Election. These votes may be split between any two (2) candidates for an office or may both be cast for one (1) candidate.

2. Any write-in candidate shall be specified by a blank line under the office the candidate seeks.

Section 3. By Email or Telephone Voting by email or over the telephone in a conference call shall be permitted by all entities of NEBLSA, unless the entity provides otherwise by a special rule. A record shall be produced for all 10

votes, and rules concerning the distribution of such a record shall be in accordance to the rules on the distribution of minutes for the respective entity as prescribed in this document.

ARTICLE IX CONVENTION Section 1. Power The Executive Board shall have the power over the regional convention.

Section 2. Location.

Conventions shall be held every year in one of the sub-regions of the Northeast Region defined in Article III Section 3. The Convention shall rotate in a yearly basis from sub-region to the next. No one sub-region shall host a convention more than once in a four-year period, unless there are extenuating circumstances that will not permit a sub-region to host a convention. In this event, the location will be determined by the Executive Board.

Section 3. Convention Coordinator and Convention Arrangements Person.

A. Convention Coordinator: The Convention Coordinator shall prepare proposals to the Board one year prior to the Convention in reference to the hotel, the fundraising information, the souvenir journal, the vendor information, and delegate information. Once such proposals have been submitted, the board will vote and the implementation will be left to the Convention Coordinator with constant assistance from the Board.

B. Convention Arrangements Person: The Convention Arrangements Person shall be selected by the Chair and the Convention Coordinator from the sub-region that is hosting the Regional Convention. It shall be the duties of this person to plan and submit the proposed schedule of meetings, procedures, and special events of the convention (i.e. panel discussions, keynote speaker). Once such proposals have been submitted, the Board will vote and the implementation will be left to the Convention Arrangements Person with constant assistance from the Board.

The Convention Coordinator and the Convention Arrangements Person Shall attend all Regional meetings to keep the Membership appraised of the convention plans.

Section 4. Time.

Conventions shall be held in the Spring semester.

Section 5. Proposals for Host Site of Regional Convention.

All proposals for Convention locations must be submitted in writing at the Regional Convention of the prior year.

ARTICLE X PARLIAMENARTY AUTHORITY NEBLSA is empowered to establish its rules of order through the adoption of some form of parliamentary authority, A Regional Parliamentarian, appointed by the Regional Chair will be

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responsible for carrying out the parliamentary authority and serving as a resource on parliamentary procedure.

ARTICLE XI BYLAWS The Bylaws of NEBLSA must be approved by: A. Simple majority vote of delegates attending Plenary Sessions at the Annual Regional Convention; or, in extenuating circumstances, B. A two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Regional Executive Board, subject to review by the active membership of NEBLSA. The Regional Executive Board must publicize the need to make the change and create an amendment to the Bylaws prior to acting; results of the Board’s actions must be publicized.

ARTICLE XII AMENDMENTS Section 1. Procedure.

The Constitution may be added to, amended or repealed at any meeting of The General Assembly provided that: A. There is present a quorum of fifty percent of representatives of the member chapters plus one (1) representative; B. A two-thirds (2/3) affirmative vote of quorum is obtained and; C. Provided the proposed amendment(s) is (are) included un a notice of the meeting, to the chapter members of such meeting.

Section 2. Effective Date of Amendments.

Amendments to the NEBLSA Constitution shall become effective immediately upon ratification by the General Assembly, except where an alternative date is specified therein.

Article XIII SUPREMACY CLAUSE Section 1. NBLSA Any provision of the NBLSA Constitution and Bylaws, any action of the National Executive Board collectively or individually, and any measure adopted by the National Convention Assembly will supersede any governing document, rule, policy, practice, or procedure passed by the NEBLSA. Section 2. NEBLSA Any provision of the NEBLSA Constitution and Bylaws, any action of the Regional Executive Board collectively and individually, and any measure adopted by the Regional Convention Assembly will supersede any governing document, rule, policy, practice, or procedure passed by any local chapter of NEBLSA.

ARTICLE XIV. 12

RATIFICATION Section 1 Unless an alternative date is specified therein, the Constitution and Bylaws, and any passed amendments of NEBLSA become effective immediately upon ratification.

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