NASO member Terry Linton, a retired football and basketball referee from Albuquerque, led a tireless grassroots effort coordinating various local officiating groups and individual sports officials. I'm very proud that our legislators listened and have acted. The law will establish tougher penalties for persons convicted of assaulting a sports official, no matter what level the official is working.
Penalties range from a misdemeanor charge to a second-degree felony charge if a weapon is used.
Twelve other states are currently considering similar legislation. Headquartered in Racine, Wis., NASO receives two to three reports a week of physical assaults against sports officials. People need to understand that officials will make mistakes. They are human, but that doesn't mean one can take a bat and swing it at the official's head because they don't like the official's decision. Ric Maxey, assistant director of the New Mexico Activities Association, told the Albuquerque Journal that officials responding to a survey in his state stated that their greatest worries were the verbal and physical abuse they have been subjected to in recent years.