Thursday June 24, 2010
Philadelphia Scouts Can Keep Building Despite Homosexual Ban: Federal Jury
By James Tillman
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania, June 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) — In another victory for the Boy Scouts of America’s continued defiance of the homosexualist agenda, a federal jury ruled Wednesday that the city of Philadelphia cannot evict the Cradle of Liberty Council from a city-owned building for refusing to allow homosexuals to enter the Scouts.
In the Boy Scouts of America v. Dale case of 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a close 5-4 ruling that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) were constitutionally permitted to prohibit open homosexuals from being members or troop leaders.
But the city of Philadelphia had maintained that, despite the Constitutional permission, if the Scouts wished to continue using city property for the nominal rent of $1 a year, they had to abide by city anti-discrimination ordinances.
The jury found that such a requirement violated the council’s First Amendment rights. The city is still permitted to terminate the lease, but must not do so because of the organization’s views on homosexuality.
“From now on, the Boy Scouts will be negotiating from a position of strength,” said the Scouts’ lawyer Jason Gosselin. “The city can’t come in and impose its views on what the scouts ought to do.”
The jury of six women and two men deliberated for about seven hours over two days.
Nevertheless, the ruling was not as favorable as the Scouts had desired. They had sought an injunction barring the city from either evicting them or charging $200,000 a year in rent, the two alternatives the city had presented them before the Scouts’ suit.
U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter did not immediately issue the injunction, however. Instead, he told jurors that he hoped the city and the Scouts would be able to work something out.
City Solicitor Shelley Smith said that despite the jury’s unanimous ruling, the answers to the 11 questions on the verdict sheet were “inconsistent.”
According to the Inquirer, she said that “when verdict sheets have inconsistent answers, the potential exists that the verdict is flawed. We will be exploring our options.”
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s press secretary, Doug Oliver, issued a statement saying that the “City remains steadfast in its commitment to prevent its facilities from being used to disadvantage certain groups.”
He continued: “In the meantime, we will review the trial record to determine our legal options.”
The Boy Scouts have inhabited the stately Beaux Arts building since they constructed it 80 years ago. At the time, the land on which the building sits had been turned over to the city by the Scouts with the understanding that the Scouts would be able to use it “in perpetuity.”
Since then the Cradle of Liberty BSA Council has paid all the costs associated with the maintenance, repair, and improvement of the building.
The Cradle of Liberty Council serves over 87,000 youths in the area; the Philadelphia building is one of its two headquarters.
In 2003 the Cradle of Liberty Council had attempted to repudiate the official BSA position on homosexual membership. The national BSA, however, ordered them to continue following official BSA policy.
See related stories on LifeSiteNews.com.
Suit over Boy Scout Homosexual Discrimination Opens
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/jun/10061610.html
Philadelphia Boy Scouts to Lose Historic Building for Not Accepting Homosexuality
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/dec/07121107.html