Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, December 7, 1993 TAG: 9312070252
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The court, rejecting the appeal of an 11-year-old boy from Illinois, let stand a ruling that said a federal law banning bias in public accommodations does not cover the Boy Scouts of America.
The court's action, taken without comment, is not a ruling on the merits of the Scouts' policy, and carries no direct impact for other legal fights over it.
The organization also is defending itself against lawsuits challenging its policy of barring homosexuals.
Mark Welsh's lawsuit was the first of its kind to reach the nation's highest court, but others likely will follow.
Mark and his father, Elliott, sued the Scouts in 1990. They live in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, and are described in court papers as agnostics.
Welsh said he and his son were disappointed by the court action.
"Encouraging a proper moral standard or proper ethical standard is certainly a reasonable thing to do in a youth organization," Welsh said. "The question, however, really is do you make a prejudiced assumption about people's moral and ethical fitness on the basis of whether or not they believe in God."
In an unusual move, the Scouts had asked the justices to review the boy's appeal. The organization cited the huge costs of defending its policy from similar attacks in California, Kansas, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia.
Richard Walker, a Boy Scouts of America spokesman, said Monday that duty to God and country is an integral part of scouting.
"One of the bedrock programs is to proclaim that duty to God, because that's how you're going to get the values imbued in these kids that the parents want," he said.
Mark was seven when he applied to join a Tiger Cub Group. He was denied membership for refusing to sign the Scout Oath.
Lower courts ruled that Scouting, unlike restaurants, hotels and places of entertainment, is not a public accommodation covered by Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin.
\ On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight. Scout Oath
by CNB