Calif. Court Review to Scout-Judge Rule

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 12-21-02 | The Associated Press

[optimistically_conservative]

The California Supreme Court is considering prohibiting state judges from being members of the Boy Scouts because of its refusal to admit gays, the chief justice said.

California judicial canons, controlled by the Supreme Court, already demand that judges divest themselves from groups that discriminate against women and minorities.

Rules adopted seven years ago also forbid membership in organizations that discriminate against lesbians and gays but allow ``nonprofit youth organizations,'' an exception for the Boy Scouts.

Boy Scouts spokesman Gregg Shields called the proposal ``wrong, inappropriate and unconstitutional.''

``The proposed policy would be just as as inappropriate as a policy forbidding judges from being Roman Catholic or Baptist or Orthodox Jewish or any of numerous faiths which share the Boy Scouts' views,'' he told The New York Times.

[pabianice]

Ooooo...! SCOTUS bump!

[Buffalo Bob]

The New Butt Order® (NBO) knows what's best for us...

[fidelis]

Here's a little more on the same article:

Calif. might ban judges from Scouts


By Adam Liptak
New York Times
Dec. 21, 2002


The California Supreme Court is considering a proposal that would forbid the 1,600 judges in the state to belong to the Boy Scouts because of its refusal to accept gays.


California judges are prohibited from joining groups that discriminate based on sexual orientation, but non-profit youth organizations are exempt. The Supreme Court took up the proposal to consider changing the rule at the request of bar associations in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

A spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America reacted with outrage to the proposal, which was announced on Thursday.

"It would be wrong, inappropriate and unconstitutional," the spokesman, Gregg Shields, said. "The proposed policy would be just as inappropriate as a policy forbidding judges from being Roman Catholic or Baptist or Orthodox Jewish or any of numerous faiths which share the Boy Scouts' views."

A handful of other states expressly prohibit judges from membership in organizations that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. But the question of applying those rules to the Boy Scouts does not seem to have arisen in those states.

The California proposal would change rules in the state's Code of Judicial Ethics. "The Boy Scouts do a lot of terrific work," said Angela M. Bradstreet, a former president of the San Francisco Bar Association who is the leading proponent of the proposal. "But it is inappropriate for any judge to be a member of any organization that practices invidious discrimination."

George said the topic aroused strong feelings among judges.

"There are many individuals in the judiciary who have been active in the Boy Scouts and who feel their First Amendment rights of association should allow them to maintain their loyalty to the Scouts," he said.

[Dog Gone]

They should ban judges from being members of the Republican Party, too, I guess.

Although you'd be hard-pressed to find any California judges who are...

[LiteKeeper]

Isn't amazing that the Supreme Court of the United States declares that what the Boy Scouts are doing is Constitutional, and the Supreme Court of the Left Coast State says it isn't, in essence!

[templar]

California judicial canons, controlled by the Supreme Court, already demand that judges divest themselves from groups that discriminate against women and minorities.

This is, of course, a judicial predjudice against these groups and any member of these groups.