Boy Scout Victory at Court of Appeals

I am happy to report that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled in our favor and held that the ACLUs challenge to the U.S. Department of Defenses support of the Boy Scouts of America and their National Jamboree was legally flawed.  We filed a brief on behalf of 90 members of the United States House and Senate asking that the suit be dismissed.  The court ruled that the ACLU-backed taxpayer plaintiffs had no legal standing to bring a lawsuit in the first place.  This is precisely what we asserted in our brief.  If youd like to read a copy of the brief, please click here. 

The Department of Defense and the military provide the Boy Scouts with support and services that aid both the military and the Scouts and do not inappropriately endorse religion.  The lawsuit should have never been brought, and I am pleased that the court dismissed the suit, clearing the way for this unofficial relationship between our military and the Boy Scouts to continue. 

We had asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit to reverse a lower court ruling that declared a 1972 statute passed by Congress enabling the Department of Defense to provide support for the Boy Scouts unconstitutional for allegedly violating the separation of church and state.  The Defense Department provided support and services every four years when the Scouts held their Jamboree at Ft. A. P. Hill in Virginia.  The dispute began in 1999 when the ACLU filed suit claiming that the Defense Departments sponsorship of the Boy Scouts violated the First Amendment because the group requires its members to swear an oath which states, in part, On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country.  A federal U.S. district court judge said the Jamboree statute was unconstitutional and violated the Establishment Clause, asserting that it had the primary effect of advancing religion.  That case was appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals which reversed.

In our brief in support of the statute, we asserted that in passing the statute, Congress sought to help the military advance its own goals, not to promote the Boy Scouts religious beliefs.  We contended that the lower court used flawed legal reasoning to reach its conclusion.  Finally, our brief asserted that the Department of Defenses support comes in the form of non-religious supplies and services.  The brief actually states that  [t]he militarys rental of forklifts and trucks, transportation and military equipment, restoration of Ft. A. P. Hill after the Jamboree, and provision of other secular services is clearly neutral and nonideological. The only possible message that the militarys aid can be viewed as conveying is that patriotism, self-reliance, physical fitness, and support of military are positive things.  We asked the court to dismiss the case on standing, and the court did exactly that.  To read the court's opinion, please click here.