CA SC Declines to Hear Suit Over Lease of City Land for Scout Camp

[Merlyn_LeRoy 72]

 

Don't know if this belongs here, because it has nothing to do with Obama or the bailout, just the BSA; presumably, the 9th circuit court has to rule on the appeal without these questions answered by the California SC...

 

http://www.metnews.com/articles/2009/conf040309.htm

...

The California Supreme Court has declined to involve itself in a dispute over whether the state Constitution allows public land to be leased to organizations that discriminate on the basis of religion or sexual orientation.

 

The justices, at their weekly conference Wednesday in San Francisco, voted unanimously to decline the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals request that it decide a certified question.

...

 

The questions that the CA SC declined to answer:

 

We certify to the California Supreme Court the following questions:

 

1. Do the leases interfere with the free exercise and

enjoyment of religion by granting preference for a religious

organization in violation of the No Preference Clause in arti-

cle I, section 4 of the California Constitution?

 

2. Are the leases aid for purposes of the No Aid Clause

of article XVI, section 5 of the California Constitution?

 

3. If the leases are aid, are they benefitting a creed or

sectarian purpose in violation of the No Aid Clause?

 

[Hal_Crawford 15]

So what does this mean? Does this support the BSA or does it support the ACLU? Seems like it may leave the decision in the hands of the 9th or does the case just die at this point which means that the BSA loses?

 

I assume that if the latter is the case then BSA will appeal to the SCOTUS who may or may not choose to hear the case.

[Merlyn_LeRoy 72]

It doesn't seem to make a lot of difference; the SC could have made decisions on those three questions that would have helped one side or the other, but by not answering them, it doesn't change much. As far as I can tell, the 9th circuit will have to make a decision on the appeal without having these questions answered, and either side could appeal that decision to the California supreme court (and possibly the US supreme court after that).