Marchand Decision

For almost the last four years, a few concerned New Hampshire hams have worked with me in what has become a costly legal battle to provide additional protection to hams property rights to erect amateur radio towers and antennas. This legal battle has been a financial hardship for me personally as we are ultimately defending the rights of each Radio Amateurs in New Hampshire to build and erect effective antenna systems. To read the full story, click on Legal Battle.

One of the positive results in this case is that Radio Amateurs in New Hampshire are better protected from restrictive antenna ordinances, but this has come with a cost.

The net effect of the numerous court battles is that, while the New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled that the three 87 foot towers that I wished to erect are not customary, the ruling reaffirms that State and federal law does not permit a total denial of the permit. The New Hampshire Supreme Court made a strong ruling in support of PRB-1 and now requires that the particular needs of an amateur operator in question must be accommodated in every community. What this means is that in New Hampshire regardless of the ordinances, towns cannot regulate someone off the air. The New Hampshire Supreme Court by this judicial ruling re-affirms PRB-1 legislative law (RSA 674:16 and RSA 674:17) already on the books is the law in New Hampshire. Included in the decision is a rejection of the balancing approach adopted in some jurisdictions. This means that the balancing was done previously by the FCC and local authorities cannot re-balance a ham off the air.

The text of this decision is available at http://www.courts.state.nh.us/supreme/opinions/2001/march221.htm

Although a large part of the legal work in this case has been provided by Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF at no cost to us, the total costs to date still have been staggering. I have invested almost twenty thousand dollars in the defense of our tower rights in New Hampshire. All amateurs will benefit from this decision. Even hams not residing in New Hampshire may ultimately benefit from this decision, as decisions in a State Supreme, although not binding on other jurisdictions, Courts in other states will use this decision as a guide in deciding cases in other states.

We are asking for your help with these expenses. If you are able to contribute, we would like to ask for your help in the form of a donation. Please contribute to this defense of your amateur tower rights by making your check payable to:

Jeremy Muller K0TV PRB-1 Defense Fund
61 Burns Hill Road
Hudson, NH 03051-4423

You can also donate using PayPal with the following link. My email address is k0tv@arrl.net