Re: Scouting, The "3-G's", And CNN

Thanks Roger for a very interesting post!

You stated that the California appellate courts reached conflicting
conclusions. That is true. I would like to point out that the
conflicts came because one court initially ruled (in the Curran case)
against the BSA Council. Another court was trying the Randall case at the time
and found against the BSA Council in that case based primarily on
the Curran case's ruling. Well the judge in the Curran case looked
into the case further and changed the ruling to be in favor of
the BSA Council. By then the Randall case was over and the twins
were in the troop. Since then the California appellate courts
have consistently ruled in favor of the BSA in all other cases
brought before them. For example, in the Yew case, where the girl's
father wants her in the Boy Scouts, the CA appellette court ruled against her.
Her father will appeal the case to the CA Supreme Court if the Supreme
Court rules against the BSA in the Curran and Randall cases.

Which brings up the kids. I really feel for the Randall twins if
they are ejected after all this time. I wonder why their father
put them in such a position. The only personal words reported from the
father yesterday said he would miss the Boy Scouts if his sons lost,
what about the boys? I was also a bit surprised that
Mr. Yew paraded his daughter in front of the press yesterday
and tried to get in some of the limelight the Randall case was getting.
But then I was surprised when he contracted with a very activist-feminist
lawyer to represent his daughter. I am not sure how many
'hidden' agendas are trying to be addressed by these cases, and I
am really shock in the amount of selfishness being shown...but I digress...

A number of different people have suggested that the impact of these cases
would be limited to California. My speculation would lead me to disagree.
Most of the state civil rights laws are worded very similarly. If the
California Supreme Court rules that the BSA Councils and/or units are
'businesses' then it would be very hard for other state courts to
resist not ruling similarly. Rest assured that the ACLU will press
cases in as many states as it takes to make it a national issue,
they have stated as much in their press releases.

I also don't think this movement will not stop with the BSA.
I think the GSUSA may be forced to integrate their programs,
and other youth programs not
directly originating from Churches would be affected as well.

We all should be aware of what is happening here, and if we choose
to ignore it, realize what the ramifications can be.

By the way, one alternative I did not talk about for the states, in case
the BSA Council looses the case, is that the state civil rights acts are
amended to exempt clubs such as the BSA. This is a real
possibility but would take time, and kids will be let in in the mean-time
only to be possibly expelled later.

I think we should stay away from thinking about different membership
requirements in different states. This will only tend to divide the
BSA. One of the strengths of the BSA is that the program is the same
throughout the nation. If a Scout starts on the trail to Eagle in
Montana, he can continue in California, and finish up in Arizona.

YiS,
Bill Nelson

--
---
"A NATION owes its success, not so much to its strength
in armaments, as to the amount of character in its citizens."
  - Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the Scout Movement




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