Boy Scouts Back in Court

WASHINGTON — Attorneys with the
Alliance Defense Fund and Thomas More Law Center filed a friend-of-the-court
brief Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of the Boy Scouts of
America, challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union for maintaining and
beautifying parks leased from the city of San Diego.  The brief asks the court to consider the
impact of such lawsuits on the ability of faith-based groups to provide
non-religious services that have greatly benefitted cities and communities since
the founding of the nation.

“Groups such as the Boy Scouts shouldn’t be
penalized for their beliefs, and neither should the communities that benefit
from their selfless work,” said ADF Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt.  “The Boy Scouts of America spent
millions of dollars to improve portions of two public parks that it leased from
the city for a nominal fee.  The
Scouts allowed the public to have full access to the parks, yet two couples
filed suit simply because they didn’t like the beliefs of the Scouts
organization.  These types of
ridiculous ‘offended observer’ types of lawsuits should no longer be
tolerated.”

Since 1957, the Boy Scouts have leased a 16-acre parcel at
San Diego’s Balboa Park.  In
exchange for paying a nominal fee to the city, the Scouts were allowed to lease
the park and make numerous improvements to the property, including a public
campground.  Hundreds of other
groups have similar arrangements with the city.

In 1987, the city leased
another half-acre parcel to the Scouts at Mission Bay Park.  The Scouts again spent millions of
dollars to build an aquatic center, which is open to the entire community on a
first-come, first-served basis.  The
ACLU filed suit against the city, the Boy Scouts, and the Desert Pacific Council
on behalf of an agnostic couple and lesbian couple who alleged that leasing
public land to a private group that requires members to adhere to religious
faith is a violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution.  The couples are also offended that the
Boy Scouts organization requires its leaders to maintain sexual ethics
consistent with the organization’s beliefs.

On June 11, 2008, the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that the ACLU could challenge the
leases, even though its clients had never even been to the parks, been exposed
to any religious symbols at the parks, or been denied any services by the Boy
Scouts.  The Scouts are now asking
the Supreme Court to take the case.

According to the ADF-TMLC brief, “The
9th Circuit’s decision represents a new threat for faith-based organizations
that choose to cooperate with the government in establishing public benefit
programs….  Plaintiffs in the 9th
Circuit can now challenge programs like San Diego’s with nothing more than
general offense at a tenet of the organization’s mission.  So as long as a person feels unwelcome by the private groups’
beliefs–without any exposure to religious symbols or denial of any services–he
can sue to have the program declared unconstitutional.”

• Friend-of-the-court brief filed in Boy Scouts of America v.
  Barnes-Wallace

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ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations. This media release was originally issued on May 6, 2009.

Alliance Defense Fund