Live Webcast: The Constitution and the Boy Scouts

[berkshirescouter]

The Federalist Society's Civil Rights Practice Group and its San Diego Lawyer's Chapter present a panel discussion on:

"The Constitution and the Boy Scouts: Equal Access to Government Land and the First Amendment"

If you have about an hour and a half to listen to this it covers both sides (Balboa Park vs Boy Scouts) very well. The link is below.

 

 

http://www.vcnetcast.com/fed

 

[Eamonn]

Many Thanks for the link.

I sat through all of the discussion.My head is spinning, the little gray cells are in over-drive.

I have to wonder what would happen if the Catholic or Jewish or you name a religion; Committee on Scouting were to lease the parks?

It seems that it is OK for religious organizations to hold these leases.

Eamonn.

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

It's OK for religious organizations to hold these leases, but they can't be awarded by fiat, they have to go through a neutral competetive bidding process - otherwise, the city could dole out valuable leases to whatever religious groups they like, and deny them to groups they don't like. The BSA lease renewal didn't go through the city's usual competetive bidding process, which was one of the main reasons judge Jones struck it down.

[Eamonn]

I will bow to your knowledge but it would seem that if we were a religious organization that we would fall under a different heading.

Just wondering Merlyn, what did you think of the discussion ?

I really enjoyed the fact that both sides made some very good points and for the most part were very level headed and kept their cool.

Eamonn.

[Prairie_Scouter]

I was only able to watch the first part of the discussion. The first speaker spouted off a lot of court cases that I had no point of reference to (I think he was supposed to be the "opposing side"), and the 2nd speaker, who I guess was the pro-Scouting person, basically spouted a string of sarcastic remarks. I hope it got better after I had to leave

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

Eamonn writes:

 

I will bow to your knowledge but it would seem that if we were a religious organization that we would fall under a different heading.

 

I'm not sure what you're getting at - Judge Jones did rule that the BSA was a religious organization. That's one reason why a neutral leasing process is required to avoid first amendment problems.

 

I only saw a bit of the live broadcast near the end, there's supposed to be a transcript at some point and I'd rather look at that.

[Kahuna]

Thanks for posting that. I watched the whole thing yesterday and I agree that it was a pretty fair and level-headed forum. The UU guy had some good points, but I don't think they carried the day. I was surprised to hear the favorable comments about Roger Baldwin and the ACLU original founders. I don't know if they were anti-communist in the 1950's or not, but they certainly were communist sympathizers in the beginning. Roger Baldwin was one the witnesses whose commentary was used in the movie "Reds."

[SeattlePioneer]

With George Bush able to get his judicial nominees voted on by the Senate, it may well turn out that many of these legal fine points will turn out to be obsolete.

 

It seems that the Supreme Court will again be permitted to follow the election returns, over the objection of many Democrats.

 

 

 

Seattle Pioneer