More on the Boy Scouts

[Vance R Koven]

On Thu, 8 Jan 1998, EDarr1776 wrote:

> The usual justification for Scouts excluding homosexuals goes to child
> protection guidelines.  I wonder whether someone might try a Brandeis brief to
> overcome that argument: [snip]
>
> Certainly Scouting's policies on homosexuals correspond to the views of some
> of the religious institutions that sponsor Packs, Troops and Posts.  But can a
> federally chartered organization ban homosexuals from all units, even those
> that are not religiously sponsored?  Could the Red Cross or National Ski
> Patrol discriminate on such grounds (to name two other federally-chartered
> groups)?

With respect, I think this and Mark Graber's response miss the point. The
Boy Scouts, federally chartered or no are (unless the facts as developed
indicate the unlikely application of "place of public accommodation")a
private organization whose members are entitled to freedom of assembly,
speech, and the other bundles of rights we call "freedom of association."
They don't have to have a religious justification for excluding atheists,
homosexuals, blacks or anybody else, regardless of what anyone else's
children do. No "sliding scales" need apply (in both senses of that
expression). The imposition of differing standards based on the content of
the speech/associational objective seems to be the kind of ad hominem
justice that usually sets off alarm bells on this list. I admit to a
degree of naive shock that the ACLU would be arguing this case *against*
the Boy Scouts.

As to the federal chartering issue, that seems like a red herring. A
state-chartered corporation, llc or other entity is not made "public" by
that fact alone, nor would federal chartering unless Congress imposed
special limitations in the charter itself.

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