MacGovern Appeal is Dismissed

John MacGovern’s appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court was dismissed on April 18, less than a month after the justices heard the case. The case involved an Association of Alumni decision not to allow proxy votes in the election of their Executive Committee. A full history of the case can be found here.

The order stated that “the petitioner’s allegations fail to ‘meet the threshold necessary to intrude upon the association’s internal affairs.'” The decision was unanimous amongst the four justices, Chief Justice Broderick having disqualified himself from the case. The Court’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit upheld a lower court’s decision from August of 2006.

Though ostensibly a blow to more open governance, the case had ceased to be practical once all-media voting was introduced into the Association’s elections. In that light, we can be glad that the Court decided to keep its nose out of the private sphere and can only hope it will decide to do so more often.