Federal Volunteer Protection
Federal Legal Protection for Volunteers Started Sept. 16, 1997:
"The Volunteer Protection Act of 1997," Public Law 105-19, should provide Federal protection from "frivolous,
arbitrary, or capricious" lawsuits against our OO/AmAux and VE volunteers as well as other volunteers. The law
became effective on Sept. 16, 1997. The text is available on the Internet at
http://thomas.loc.gov/, or you can
Google it.
The text should also be available from other sources. PL 105-19 is much broader in scope than the Amateur Radio
Volunteer Services Act of 1997 -- To quote PL 105-19, "The purpose of this Act is to promote the interests
of social service program beneficiaries and taxpayers and to sustain the availability of programs, nonprofit
organizations, and governmental entities that depend on volunteer contributions by reforming the laws to
provide certain protections from liability abuses related to volunteers serving nonprofit organizations
and governmental agencies." See p. 15, August 1997 QST for more information.
