Posted on 01/30/2003 2:07:37 PM PST by RonF
Complaint alleges federal grant was accepted fraudulently.
RIVERSIDE — A recently unsealed federal complaint filed by the American Civil Liberties Union accuses a local Boy Scout Council of fraudulently accepting federal funds because it signed an agreement stating it would comply with federal and state anti-discrimination laws in order to get a grant.
Glenn Goodwin, a Claremont resident and ACLU member, filed the suit in a Riverside Federal Court in July of last year.
The suit seeks damages in accordance with the Federal False Claims Act on the grounds that Boy Scouts of America knowingly signed an agreement stating it would not discriminate in order to get a $15,000 grant through the County of San Bernardino.
In 2000, the Boy Scouts of America got a favorable ruling from the Supreme Court where justices agreed that it is a private organization that can choose its members any way it likes.
Boy Scouts do not allow those who won't swear an oath to God or "avowed homosexuals" into their ranks, said ACLU attorney Martha Matthews.
The federal complaint was made public this week after the U.S. Attorney's Office refused to pursue it, she said. Often with smaller claims, the U.S. attorney won't pursue them because of limited resources.
The $15,000 grant allowed the "Scoutreach" program to do more outreach to disadvantaged children in Montclair, south Montclair and south Chino.
Goodwin, an ACLU board member for more than 15 years, said he became aware from steering committee members of the ACLU's Pomona Valley Chapter that the Boy Scouts were getting federal grant money.
Members in that chapter had been discussing this situation on and off since January 2002, Goodwin said.
Goodwin, also a retired professor from Pitzer College in Claremont, decided that something needed to be done.
"When I found out the Boy Scouts were doing this, I approached the ACLU and we decided to bring a suit to stop this," he said.
The suit was filed in the Central District Court of California in Riverside, Matthews said.
The Old Baldy Council of the Boy Scouts of America Inc. is charged with fraudulently obtaining federal funds through a Community Development Block Grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development when it signed a certification of compliance stating it would adhere to laws prohibiting discrimination.
The Old Baldy Council received the grant in August of 2001, according to information from the ACLU. The $15,000 grant was to be used for the recruitment of boys to form a new chapter.
"The overall point of the case is the Boy Scouts can't have it both ways," she said. "They have gone all the way to the Supreme Court to say they are a private organization and they can" withhold membership from gays and those who refuse to swear an oath to God. "The Boy Scouts have been completely open about those things."
Matthews pointed out that the ACLU is not questioning the organization's right to restrict their membership, only their right to access federal funds.
Once the Boy Scouts are served with the complaint, they will have 30 days to answer it in federal court, Matthews said.
Ronnie Daniel, executive director for the Old Baldy Council, said his particular branch of the organization has not been served with the suit yet.
He did say the Old Baldy Council adheres to the Boy Scouts national membership standards. In addition, Daniel said they've gotten public money over the last two years through the cities of Montclair, Pomona and Claremont to start Scouting programs in areas where youngsters don't normally have access to such activities.
An administrator from San Bernardino County said the federal anti-discrimination clause states no one can be discriminated against on the grounds of race, sex, creed, religion, color or national origin. It does not mention sexual orientation. However nonprofits receiving these types of grants also have to comply with the California Fair Housing and Employment Act, said Dave Larsen, section chief of program and compliance for the county's Department of Economic and Community Development.
Larsen said his department has been working with the Scouts since 1993 and hasn't had any complaints of discrimination against them, Larsen said. When the county entered into the agreement with the Old Baldy Council in July 2001, officials made sure the contract Scouting officials were required to sign was written to ensure nondiscrimination, he said.
Deal me in. I'd happily join such a class-action lawsuit.
Boy Scouts, to stay its own (good) path, needs to resist the temptation to swill in the government's till. You take government money, and the government will insist on taking your freedom.
Agreed also, RonF. There's a big difference between being allowed (rightfully) to use national park land for a camporee, and accepting government grants of cash. Our country as a whole has been greatly federalized through the receipt of federal government cash and all the strings which are tied to it.
Hell, let's start with the Black Congressional Caucus which even excludes black conservatives!
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