Posted on 04/04/2007 12:27:16 PM PDT by fgoodwin
Statement of Boy Scouts of America: Court Rules Boy Scout Jamboree to Go Forward
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/04-04-2007/0004559911&EDATE=
http://tinyurl.com/396mft
IRVING, Texas, April 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Boy Scouts of America is pleased that the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit dismissed the ACLU's lawsuit against the Department of Defense for supporting the National Scout Jamboree.
For more than 25 years, Boy Scouts have held the National Scout Jamboree every four years at Fort A.P. Hill near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Scouts from all over the country camp together for ten days and participate in activities emphasizing physical fitness, appreciation of the outdoors, and patriotism. Seven Presidents have attended the Jamboree since President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937. The Jamboree grounds at Fort A.P. Hill are open to the public, and an estimated 300,000 visitors attended in 2005 along with 43,000 Scouts and their leaders. The 2010 Jamboree will celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Boy Scouts of America.
The United States Congress has found that the military's logistical support for the National Scout Jamboree is an incomparable training opportunity for our armed forces. The Jamboree requires the construction, maintenance, and disassembly of a "tent city" capable of supporting tens of thousands of people for a week or longer.
Nevertheless, the ACLU sued the Department of Defense in 1999 over its support for the Jamboree. In 2005, a federal district court in Chicago concluded the Jamboree statute (10 U.S.C. section 2554) was unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause because Scouting has a nonsectarian "duty to God" requirement. DoD appealed the district court's injunction against military support under that statute for the 2010 Jamboree.
In today's ruling, the federal Court of Appeals in Chicago reversed the district court's decision, concluding that the taxpayers named as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit did not have standing to sue DoD in the first place.
"We are pleased that today's ruling preserves the training opportunity for the military that Congress wanted it to have," said Robert H. Bork, Jr., spokesperson for the Scouts.
"Today's decision allows everyone to get back to planning the centennial Jamboree celebrating Boy Scouts' 100th birthday," said George A. Davidson, the attorney for Boy Scouts of America who argued before the Seventh Circuit last year.
The case is Winkler v. Gates, No. 05-3451 (7th Cir. Apr. 4, 2007).
SOURCE Boy Scouts of America
Sandrat, Please add me to your scouting list.
Done
Good news!
Done
Good News indeed!!!!
Any time the ACLU takes up a "civil rights" case, the taxpayer gets soaked to pay them. Almost everything the ACLU files is a "civil rights" action designed to keep their lawyers sucking at the taxpayers tit. They win often enough to keep doing it.
“In today’s ruling, the federal Court of Appeals in Chicago reversed the district court’s decision, concluding that the taxpayers named as the plaintiffs in the lawsuit did not have standing to sue DoD in the first place. “
YES!! Thank the Lord for Scouting, and for this ruling!!
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