Free Republic

Scared man who sued over 'haunted house' loses in court People who go to "haunted house" attractions to be scared shouldn't be surprised when they're scared, a state court of appeals has ruled. A state appeals court has given precedent-setting status to a ruling that gave the scary mansions the same legal status as ski lodges, bumper cars and other commercial recreational facilities: They're not responsible for injuries caused by an "inherent risk" of the activity. In this case, the court said, that risk was the terror Scott Griffin experienced after leaving what he thought was the exit gate of...

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco has a well-earned reputation as the hippiest, dippiest, most-reversed appellate court in these United States. It’s where the Pledge of Allegiance gets scrutinized for possible eradication, at least, the “under God” part. But every so often, the Court gets something right. On December 22, a unanimous Ninth Circuit panel reversed a federal district judge’s order to evict the Boy Scouts from their longtime camp and local headquarters in San Diego’s Balboa Park. The ruling came in a case filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2001 on...

ENCINO (CBSLA.com) — A walk with a man’s dog uncovered years of memories for a Michigan family. The man uncovered home movies scattered all around a park. Only the park was no where near Michigan. Richard Ellman of Tarzana found the silent 8 mm movies in Balboa Park while walking Robo for their morning ritual. “Actually, he walks me,” quips Ellman. During a recent stroll, Ellman came across a box labeled “8mm movies.” He recalls the box “was upside down and empty.” Then Ellman began picking up strips. There was, he recalls, “Film all over the place. Spread all over.”...

It is a short notice, but tomorrow, 1/4/09, there will be a pro-Hamas demonstration in San Diego, in Balboa Park. Let's show support for the true ally of America - Israel - by countering this pro-terrorist demonstration. Let's get together near the El Cid statue in front of the Museum of Art (the horseman where Prado becomes pedestrian only). Let's meet tomorrow, 1/4/09, at 12:30pm. Please bring signs, American and Israeli flags etc, if you have any. See you there. Eric.

(AgapePress) - A conservative spokesman in California says a recent vote by the San Diego City Council shows that many people may be fed up with the assaults the Boy Scouts have endured recently. More than 25,000 Boy Scouts in the San Diego area will still be able to use a camp that the organization was in danger of being excluded from because of the Scouts' ban on homosexuals for membership and leadership positions. By a vote of 6-3, the San Diego City Council earlier this week approved an agreement which will let the Scouts lease facilities at Balboa Park ...

OPERATION PROUD BANNER WHO: Anyone who supports our country, our military, and their mission (sponsored by San Diego Protest Warrior). WHAT: A peaceful demonstration of support and gratitude for our armed forces. WHEN: Saturday, March 18, 2006, 12 to 4pm. WHERE: San Diego, west end of Balboa Park, near Sixth Avenue and Maple St. (map)WHY: To bear witness to the heated rhetoric of the so-called 'peace movement,' and to provide a calm rebuttal to their anti-American message. HOW: Bring American flags (or flags of our allies) of any size. Signs expressing support or gratitude for our military are also welcome....

Friends: We are working very hard to put together a wonderful, patriotic, pro-American rally to honor our troops and support their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please, help us ensure that we have a GIANT pro-troop crowd this Friday, March 3rd in Balboa Park in San Diego from 4:00 - 6:30 PM. We'll be gathering at the corner of Presidents Way and Park Boulevard across from the Veterans Memorial Center Museum. Tell your friends about this. Bring family members with you. We need a strong contingent of people from Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties to make the...

Friends: We are working very hard to put together a wonderful, patriotic, pro-American rally to honor our troops and support their missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Please, help us ensure that we have a GIANT pro-troop crowd this Friday, March 3rd in Balboa Park in San Diego from 4:00 - 6:30 PM.We'll be gathering at the corner of Presidents Way and Park Boulevard across from the Veterans Memorial Center Museum. Tell your friends about this. Bring family members with you. We need a strong contingent of people from Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties to make the trip!...

PASADENA - Oral arguments were punctuated Tuesday by questions about belief in God, discriminating membership standards, and how they relate to the Boy Scouts of America's leasing public land. Lawyers representing the Boy Scouts and the American Civil Liberties Union squared off before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in a case of a lesbian and an agnostic couple and their Boy Scout-aged sons. The plaintiffs said the Scouts should not lease prime park space owned by the city of San Diego because of the organization's pro-God, anti-gay stance. It is one of three current cases pitting the ACLU against...

An ACLU lawsuit on behalf of an agnostic, lesbian couple seeking to nullify the Boy Scouts’ long-standing lease with a San Diego park will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, widely regarded as the nation’s most liberal. The city of San Diego is appealing a U.S. District Court judge’s ruling in 2003, which determined the agreement violates the First Amendment’s ban on state-sponsored religion. Oral arguments will begin Tuesday morning in Pasadena, Calif. A decision is expected later this year. Judge Napoleon Jones said in his 2003 ruling the Boy Scouts are a religious organization with a...

A panel of leading constitutional scholars, including Dean Kenneth Starr, will debate "The Constitution and The Boy Scouts: Equal Access to Government Land and the First Amendment,” on Wednesday, May 18 from noon to 2 p.m. Pacific Time. The public and the media are invited to attend the program or to watch and participate in the Internet. For those attending in person, lunch will be served free of charge. The program is sponsored by the Federalist Society on Law and Public Policy and will be held at the Wyndham Hotel at Emerald Plaza 400 West Broadway, San Diego, CA, in...

After Action Report-- Joint Freep of Leftists in SAN DIEGO, Balboa Park The Conservative Revolution.com Peaceniks Occupy Balboa Park in San Diego—Greet “Dissenters” with Intimidation (March 19, 2005) On the second anniversary of the liberation of Iraq, the so called “peace protestors” showed their true colors again. In the military town of San Diego, a couple hundred hippies and anarchists gathered in Balboa Park, eerily reminiscent of the latest South Park episode. The local chapter of Protest Warrior, to which this author belongs, was there to play the role of Eric Cartman, to “end the occupation of Balboa Park” by...

Today is a special day. It’s the 75-year anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s famous “salt march.” On March 12, 1930, Gandhi began a 240-mile march to nonviolently resist the British tax on salt and move India closer to independence from British rule. Gandhi changed India and the world, with his relentless, nonviolent struggle for peace and justice. (For more on Gandhi’s life, click here.)Today is also important because it begins our 7-day countdown to the March 19 worldwide day of protest against the Iraq war. Next Saturday, people throughout the world will raise our voices on the two-year anniversary of the US...

The Boy Scouts lease of a Fiesta Island aquatics center on city-owned land is just as unconstitutional as its lease of public land in Balboa Park, a federal judge ruled yesterday. U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr. said the lease of the half-acre aquatics center violates the constitutional separation of church and state because the Boy Scouts is a religious organization. The same judge ruled in August that the Boy Scouts lease of Camp Balboa, where it has its regional headquarters, was unconstitutional because the Scouts require members to profess a belief in God. The American Civil Liberties Union sued...

As America battles over cultural issues, the Boy Scouts find themselves in the crossfire of the 2004 election season. In a number of communities where intolerant "progressives" hold sway, the Scouts are under siege because they won't drop their commitment to God, country and traditional morality. Several of these skirmishes have grabbed headlines recently, and in one engagement -- an attack on the Scouts by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego -- the Bush Administration has stepped forward to defend the Scouts, raising the stakes in the case and prompting some reporters to look for the hand of...

Scoutophobic San Diego Print Friendly Format E-Mail this to a Friend By Harold Johnson & Mark S. Pulliam Published 4/2/2004 12:06:13 AM As America battles over cultural issues, the Boy Scouts find themselves in the crossfire of the 2004 election season. In a number of communities where intolerant "progressives" hold sway, the Scouts are under siege because they won't drop their commitment to God, country and traditional morality. Several of these skirmishes have grabbed headlines recently, and in one engagement -- an attack on the Scouts by the American Civil Liberties Union in San Diego -- the Bush Administration has...

Government can't join Scouts in their lawsuit Federal judge bars filing in Fiesta Island dispute The U.S. Justice Department can't join the Boy Scouts in their legal fight to continue leasing a Fiesta Island aquatics center from the city, a federal judge has ruled. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr. has refused to let the Justice Department file a brief in support of the Boy Scouts, which has been involved in a protracted dispute with the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU, representing a lesbian couple and an agnostic couple who have sons wanting to become Scouts, argues that the Scouts...

This is an email sent this evening to the Mayor's office in the City of San Diego .....it explains it all.  I urge all veterans to send their letters of protest to this action to the mayor of San Diego at dickmurphy@sandiego.gov  Mr. Rudy Fernandez Veterans Liaison Office of Mayor Dick Murphy Dear Rudy,  As you are aware by now, our permit for Balboa Park for BiketoberWest on March 17th - 21st, 2004 where we will be honoring Military Veterans has been denied by the Park & Recreations Department in Balboa Park .   At our "planning meeting" on March 5th, none...

The Boy Scouts yesterday accused San Diego city officials of harassing volunteers and Scouts using the Fiesta Island aquatic center the group leases from the city. Boy Scouts volunteers have been singled out for "thousands of dollars of parking tickets" and videotaped by city rangers, and Scouts have been prevented from using adjacent parkland to eat lunch or work on projects, said Merrilee Boyack, a spokeswoman for the Boy Scouts Desert Pacific Council. The Scouts, in an amendment to a lawsuit against the city, have asked a federal judge to order the city to stop such behavior. "We just want...

The Boy Scouts of America filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against the city of San Diego, charging that the city violated the group's civil rights by settling a Balboa Park lease dispute with the American Civil Liberties Union. Carla Kerr, a New York lawyer representing the Scouts, said the group hopes the lawsuit will force the city to recommit to its $1-a-year lease with the Scouts, which is similar to agreements made with other nonprofit groups in the park. "The city is engaging in viewpoint discrimination by saying we have this program available to other organizations but not you," Kerr...