Judge: Schools can't bar Scouts
By BILL HIRSCHMAN
and TAMIKA SIMMONS Education Writers, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted March 22 2001
The Broward School District can't stop the Boy Scouts from meeting in schools just because the district disagrees with the Scouts' ban on gay leaders and members, a federal judge ruled on Wednesday.
But the legal victory does not mean Scout troops will continue to meet in schools. That's because the district plans to charge a fee -- which the Scouts may be unwilling or unable to pay.
The ruling did not address the fee issue. Now, the Scouts meet for free in the schools, a deal that expires March 30.
... In a battle that received national attention, U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks upheld the Scouts' contention that the School Board was interfering with its First Amendment right to act on its beliefs.
...Wednesday's ruling essentially bars the School Board from rejecting the Scouts' future application for leases.
Conservatives cheered the decision, especially the Pacific Legal Foundation, a Sacramento-based group that filed a friend-of-the-court brief.
"It's reassuring that the First Amendment applies to all persons in the United States including the Boy Scouts, which is not the way the Broward County School Board saw it," said Frank Shepherd, managing attorney of the group's Miami office.
"They were trying to besmirch the reputation of some 10,000 students. It took a United States district judge to teach these leaders of children this lesson of tolerance," Shepherd said.
Gay rights groups were disappointed.
Ray Rideout, co-chairman of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, said he was sad that children are required to go to a school while groups that preach bigotry and discrimination are allowed to assemble there.
"It's sad when we make an example of our children," Rideout said. "When we practice discrimination, shame on us."
The complete ruling can be read on the Internet at www.netside.net/ usdcfls/publications/ casindex.html.
Oh, the irony of this statement. Its so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
Oh, and the guys real name can not be Ray Rideout. It just can't be.