Scouting Legal Defense Fund

Boy Scouts of America v. Wyman

In this case, the state of Connecticut runs a charity check off program where state employees can check off charities that they want a portion of their salary sent to each month. The state expelled the Boy Scouts from participation in this program on the grounds that the Scouts discriminate against gays by excluding them from adult leadership positions.

The Boy Scouts sued the state on the grounds that this exclusion violated their Constitutional rights to freedom of speech and freedom of association. The District Court of Connecticut ruled against them, and the Boy Scouts appealed to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Briefs have been filed and oral argument has been held and the parties are awaiting the Court’s decision. The American Civil Rights Union filed a brief amicus curiae supporting the Boy Scouts, arguing that a long line of cases holds that the government cannot penalize a party for exercising its constitutionally protected rights, as the state of Connecticut did to the Boy Scouts in this case.

Amicus brief

Boy Scouts of America v. Dale :

•ACRU Brief in Support of Petitioner�s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari

•ACRU Amicus Brief in Support of Petitioners

•Supreme Court Decision

Boy Scouts v. Broward County School Board Case (Boy Scouts el. al. v. Till, et al):

The Broward County, Florida, school board, like many other school boards around the country is attempting to evict Boy Scout units from school facilities. This is clearly designed to be punishment for the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Dale case which upheld the Scout's constitutional right to exclude openly homosexual men from being scout masters.

The South Florida Council of the Boy Scouts has been one of the more aggressive in the country in defending itself against these and other attacks. The council, along with the National Scout Office, have sued the school board in federal court, charging that its action is a blatant violation of the Scout's constitutional rights. The law firm is Hughes, Hubbard and Reed, who have represented the Scouts in these kinds of cases for many years.

These legal documents provide a carefully thought out and logical framework for the defense of Scouting against this kind of attack and reflect careful legal research. As such, they are valuable reference material for anyone trying to defend Scouting in a similar situation.

Brief description of the documents:

•Complaint This is the filing that initiated the lawsuit against the school board. It provides a brief overview of the issue and a summary of the legal arguments the Scouts are making.

•Plaintiff's Motion for a Preliminary Injunction and Memorandum of Law in Support Thereof. This details the legal basis for granting an injunction against the school board to stop it from evicting the scouts. The memorandum of law is a good summary of the case law supporting the Scouts.

•Plaintiff's Reply to Defendant's Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction. This is a short rebuttal to the response of the school board to the Scouts' request for a preliminary injunction. It reflects arguments other school boards are likely to make in such cases.

•Order Granting Preliminary Injunctionin this case, essentially a victory for the Scout Council, May 21, 2001.