Posted on 10/16/2006 8:04:00 AM PDT by SmithL
A Boy Scouts sailing group that lost free use of a public boat slip because of the Scouts' discriminatory policies failed to persuade the Supreme Court to take its case.
The justices on Monday let stand a unanimous California Supreme Court ruling that the city of Berkeley may treat the Berkeley Sea Scouts differently from other nonprofits because the Scouts bar atheists and gays.
The leader of the Sea Scouts argued that forcing the group to pay for a berth at the marina violated the group's free speech and freedom of association rights.
The U.S. high court ruled in 2000 that the Boy Scouts have the right to ban openly homosexual scout leaders, a decision that rested on the Scouts' First Amendment rights.
Even so, the California Supreme Court said in March, local governments are under no obligation to extend benefits to organizations that discriminate.
Berkeley, home of free speech protests since the 1960s, adopted a nondiscrimination policy on the use of its marina in 1997 and revoked the Sea Scouts' subsidy a year later.
The Sea Scouts are a branch of the Boy Scouts that teaches sailing, carpentry and plumbing. City officials had told the group that it could retain its berthing subsidy if it broke ties with the Boy Scouts or disavowed the policy against gays and atheists, but the Sea Scouts refused.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Why?
The liberal activist SCOTUS does it again.
Washington fiddles while America burns...
Because there are still too many liberals on the court that would uphold it and make bad law. It is better to wait until the right mix is on the court.
Have the President's two "conservative" appointees ruled conservatively on a single case yet? This sure looks like the same old liberal SCOTUS to me.
They don't have the votes. I believe we need one more conservative to start winning cases.
"...sailing, carpentry and plumbing" ?
Don't necessarily like the decision but now the SeaScouts need to SELL their rip-rap and RENT space at a marina.
lol. every freeper should stay at home and not vote to protest! then we get more liberal judges confirmed by a dem senate...that'll show em!!
There shouldn't be children in a place like Berkeley anyway. It's abuse.
Children could get infected or sodomized in a sick place like Berkeley.
Have you considered how a long a wait this might be? Most of the Justices on the Supreme Court are "conservatives" who have been placed there by "conservative" Presidents, so I guess we're waiting for a third Party to rule, or for America to collapse; whichever comes first.
It would be nice if someone who owns a private slip says "Here ya go boys". My dad was a scout and that's how I became a sailor. Payment?? I'll put it in my will. It's yours "FOREVER".
Private organizations are (or at least should be) free to include or exclude whomever they want. However, they should be prepared to face the consequences of such policies, like those who don't share their views not giving them freebies.
I wonder how many boat slips the Scouts could have rented for what this case is costing them?
Sounds good until you look a little deeper into your logic.. This is a govt. owned marina, and it gives free access to nonprofits. It is, in fact, discriminating against the scouts and trying to force its own mores on a private orgn. Does the govt. then have the right to discriminate or not according to whomever is in power when te rules are made? Or should it treat all orgn. fairly? Oh, I forgot--this is CA. vaudine
Not SCOTUS, it's the California SC.
I'm sure Berkeley offers various privileges to other organizations whose biases they favor. Sounds like a research project...
Yes we Dems fight hard to keep the perverts away from pages and scouts.
Aren't all of the other organizations also discriminating? They do not allow people with the boy scouts view into their organizations.
I have not read the opinion of the California court, but I think this case seems equivalent to what happened in the 80s when cities divested investment in South Africa. For example, my town could treat NAMBLA or NARAL differently from other groups because they are perverts or baby killers.
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