interrupt rules

[Zippo]

Does “is out of order when another has the floor” mean that the maker MUST obtain the floor first or can they speak when no one has been assigned the floor?

IOW say someone pipes up and says “I move to donate $100.00 to the local Boys and Girls Club” during a ‘lull’ (no business pending) without ever saying ‘Mr. Chair?’ and waiting to be recognized. Would that be in order?

Or say someone shouts out “I call the question” after one speaker has stopped debating and no one else has been given the floor. Would that be in order?

3:30-3:31

Possible Answers:

A. Yes – no one has the floor so it is in order

B. No – the maker has not been recognized by the chair

C. maybe – If the motion is seconded, the chair states the motion, no one brings up a point of order and continues on…. then that is ok.

D. something else

So why doesn’t RONR say ‘must obtain the floor’ instead of the more ambiguous “is out of order when another has the floor”

[Richard Brown]

18 minutes ago, Zippo said:

IOW say someone pipes up and says “I move to donate $100.00 to the local Boys and Girls Club” during a ‘lull’ (no business pending) without ever saying ‘Mr. Chair?’ and waiting to be recognized. Would that be in order?

No. It is a main motion and the member must be recognized prior to making the motion.

18 minutes ago, Zippo said:

Or say someone shouts out “I call the question” after one speaker has stopped debating and no one else has been given the floor. Would that be in order?

Technically, no. A member must be recognized in order to move the previous question. It is not an interrupting motion. However, as a practical matter, if no one else is seeking recognition and a member moves the previous question without having first been recognized, the chair might recognize it if he senses that no one else is attempting to seek recognition. If someone else is waiting or attempting to be recognized, the chair should ignore the person who interrupted without having been recognized.

if you will look on tinted pages 44 and 45 in the back of the book in the 12th edition, you will see a list of motions which can interrupt a person speaking in debate if urgency requires it. An example of such a motion is a Point of Order.

There are also motions which are in order when another member has been assigned the floor but has not yet begun to speak. That list is also on tinted pages 44-45. 

Edited April 28, 2021 at 08:38 PM by Richard Brown
Added one sentence to my answer to the second question

[Richard Brown]

@Zippo,A good way for a good chair to make a “teachable moment” out of the situation where a member shouts out “I move the previous question” or “I call question” without having been recognized is to handle it like this:

One way is to simply ignore the member and state “is there anyone seeking recognition“ and then pause. Someone else might well seek recognition or the member who shouted out the motion might say something like “yes I call the question“. The chair could then say “Mr. Smith you have not been recognized do you seek to be recognized for the purposes of making a motion?“

Eventually, both the impolite member and the rest of the members will get the point that there is a proper way to make motions and that a member must first seek and obtain recognition before making a motion.  Simply asking “for what purpose does the member rise?“ Is another way of handling it If the member did in fact rise. If he did not rise but shouted it from his seat, I would be inclined to either ignore him or to say “is the member seeking recognition? “

[Gary Novosielski]

A slightly shorter if not more gentle way would be:

1. Yes, ignore or call to order a member who interrupts another who has the floor.
2. If a member during a lull shouts anything other than "Mmme. President" or equivalent, for example, "I call the question." the chair would respond "For what purpose does the member seek recognition?"
3. The member responds " I want to call the question."
4. The chair replies "The member wishes to move the Previous Question.  The member is recognized."
5. The member looks confused, and then realizes that he hasn't yet made the motion, and does so.
6. The chair acts appropriately depending on whether the motion gathers a second.