The Boy Scouts' First Amendment rights were violated, a federal jury decided, when the city tried to force an eviction of the BSA from their offices saying that the Scouts' moral convictions against homosexual behavior is discriminatory.
UPDATE 11/17/10: City surrenders - sells building to Scouts cheap
Unrelated to the Philadelphia case is the lawsuit reported below in this ABC News video; sexual abuse of scouts by homosexual leaders has been a problem for decades:
-- From "Jury says Philly can't evict Boy Scouts for anti-gay policy" by Nathan Gorenstein, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer 6/24/10
"We can't be kicked out of the building or evicted, and we don't have to pay any rent," scouts attorney William M. McSwain said after the unanimous verdict by a jury of six women and two men.
The scouts' lawyers expect U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter to issue a permanent injunction that bars eviction because of the policy - set by the national organization - that homosexuals cannot be scouts or troop leaders.
That's not necessarily the end of the dispute, however.
The jury's answers to the 11 questions on the verdict sheet were "inconsistent," City Solicitor Shelley Smith said, "and when verdict sheets have inconsistent answers, the potential exists that the verdict is flawed. We will be exploring our options."
Mayor Nutter said in a statement, "While the good work of the Boy Scouts cannot be disputed, the city remains steadfast in its commitment to prevent its facilities from being used to disadvantage certain groups."
In 2007, the scouts were ordered to vacate the 80-year-old headquarters they had occupied rent-free, or pay $200,000 a year to lease the building from the Fairmount Park Commission.
The scouts can now ask the court to order the city to pay legal fees of about $860,000.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
From "City, Scouts: How is compromise possible?" by Elmer Smith, Philadelphia Daily News Opinion Columnist 6/25/10
A jury took only five hours to decide against the city and the firm of Schnader, Harrison, Segal and Lewis, which donated hundreds of otherwise billable hours to assist the city solicitor.
. . . In 2003, the council agreed to a compromise that would have allowed the city to continue to charge only nominal rent for the headquarters that the Scouts built in 1928 [with organization funds,] on city property at 22nd and Winter streets.
But that agreement quickly unraveled. The Boy Scouts of America cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that private organizations can't be forced to accept homosexuals. It threatened to decertify the local council if it compromised on this point.
The city still maintains that the terms of its original agreement allow it to evict the Scouts without citing a reason. One of the attorneys for the Scouts said as much in his closing argument.
. . . the city is likely to file post-trial motions and may look for a "more global" approach to the eviction that is not specific to the Scouts.
To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.
