Posted on 04/05/2007 4:21:50 AM PDT by leadpenny
Federal Appeals Court reverses ban on government funding for the National Scout Jamboree
Date published: 4/5/2007
A federal appeals court in Chicago yesterday reversed a ban on government funding for the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill.
That means the Pentagon can spend millions--as it has in the past--to ready the Caroline County Army post for the 2010 jamboree.
"Today's decision allows everyone to get back to planning the centennial Jamboree celebrating the Boy Scouts' 100th birthday," George Davidson, an attorney for the Boy Scouts of America, said in a statement.
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Defense Department in 1999, claiming its sponsorship of the Scouts violates the First Amendment. That's because the group requires its members to swear an oath of duty to God.
A federal judge ruled in favor of the ACLU in 2005. A spokesman for the civil-liberties group could not be reached yesterday.
In a written statement to The Associated Press, ACLU attorney Adam Schwartz said, "We continue to believe that government funding to support private activities which excludes persons on the basis of their beliefs is unconstitutional."
The Boy Scouts received about $7 million from the Defense Department for the 2005 jamboree, according to court documents released yesterday.
A.P. Hill has hosted the jamboree--the Boy Scouts' largest youth gathering--since 1981.
The court of appeals judges acknowledged that atheists and agnostics can't become Scouts.
But, they wrote, non-Scouts may attend the jamboree. They can visit on certain days for limited activities but can't spend the night.
The court also supported Congress' decision to allow the military to "take advantage of a built-in audience of potential recruits."
That's a "secular and valid purpose," the judges wrote.
A statute enables the military to support private groups if "such assistance is incidental to military training," the court documents state.
Troops police the 2,200-acre site, dubbed the fastest-growing city. In 2005, 43,000 Scouts and leaders converged on the military base.
An act passed by Congress in 2005 says the military's participation in the jamboree develops "leadership for defending our national security and preparing for combat."
Scout spokesman Robert Bork noted this "Support our Scouts" act in a statement yesterday.
"We are pleased that today's ruling preserves the training opportunity for the military that Congress wanted it to have," he said.
Jeff Branscome: 540/374-5402 Email: jbranscome@freelancestar.com
Ahhh, the ACLU trying so hard to give irony to their name.
good news for scouts
And they call us extremists..........
Maybe someone could clarify this acknowledgment. How does the BSA know if someone is an atheist or an agnostic?
I bet that isn't exactly true. They get some benefit from the Defense Dept because they use DD land
Don’t know how that’s tallied. IIRC, various commands from Ft. Lee to Ft. Belvoir are tasked to support the Jamboree.
Yup. But those bholes at the ACLU will never quit trying. They’ll probably come at BSA on the queer angle now. Maybe even get the UN to weigh in.
Only if they proclaim themselves as such..
The military and the Boy Scouts have always had a connection of a sort. Eagle Scouts who enlist in the U.S. military may receive advanced rank in recognition of their achievements. Scouting teaches preparation, reverence, survival, how to handle a gun and numerous other skills that are valuable in the military.
To me they’d just be trying to prove a point to do that.
It’s been 50 years since I was a 2nd Class BS (that’s Boy Scout - not Bull Sh**er. I’ve made 1st Class in that Dept.), and thought there may be something in the BS Pledge requiring an agnostic or an atheist to go against the grain.
In the simplest terms, the atheist or agnostic could not honestly agree to the Boy Scout oath.
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.
I thought it centered around something like that.
So, it’s wrong that agnostics and atheists can’t become Boy Scouts. If they say the Oath and don’t declare their atheism, they’re in.
I’m not up on my Scout laws, but through the Scouts had made an accommodation for this.
It may depend on the troop.
You may be right.
I see the ACLU taking this to the USSC. Maybe Robert Bork could argue on the side of the Scouts?
That’s exactly why they rendered that decision.
Much the same as the Lefty University v. Rumsfeld on JAG access to recruit.
Think of it in ledger terms. Congress stated in law that Military Recruitment should be allowed on campus if Government funding is involved in the funding of the campus.
As long as it’s “wrote off” as Recruitment they can support the Jamboree since it’s Government property.
I think that was what was argued and the good guys won
Do you think the Supremes will take the case if they get a chance?
They open their mouth!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.