Ethics

Important Standing Decision from California

By Ed Brayton

Edwin Kagin, legal director for American Atheists, alerted me to this situation in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that deals with the question of standing in regard to a lawsuit against the city of San Diego for their financial support of the Boy Scouts and an arrangement that gives the Boy Scouts authority to run public facilities on public property. Here are the facts of the case:

The Desert Pacific Council, a nonprofit corporation chartered by the Boy Scouts of America, leases land from the City of San Diego in Balboa Park and Mission Bay Park. The Council pays no rent for the Mission Bay property and one dollar per year in rent for the Balboa Park property. In return, the Council operates Balboa Park's campground and Mission Bay Park's Youth Aquatic Center. The campground and the Aquatic Center are public facilities, but the Council maintains its headquarters on the campground, and its members extensively use both facilities. The Boy Scouts of America -- and in turn the Council -- prohibit atheists, agnostics, and homosexuals from being members or volunteers and require members to affirm a belief in God.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on January 09, 2009 (boomark / email).