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GRAND RAPIDS, MI—Scott Allan Herrick, 40, of Twin Lakes, Michigan, was sentenced to serve 95 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Donald A. Davis announced today. Herrick surreptitiously videotaped boys as they were dressing in the boys’ locker room in the YMCA in Muskegon and kept a massive collection of 100,000 images of child pornography with him at the Gerber Boy Scout Camp in Twin Lakes, Michigan. He was convicted at trial of three counts of attempting to produce child pornography. On the first day of trial, Herrick pleaded guilty to two counts of distributing child pornography and one count of...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Boy Scouts have labored for decades to curtail sexual abuse of scouts by adult volunteers. But when their name was evoked in a lawsuit linked to the Penn State abuse scandal, the reference was not to problems - it was acknowledgment that the Scouts' current prevention policies are considered state of the art. While the local youth charity in the Penn State case has been accused of lax policies, experts in abuse prevention say most of the national organizations serving young people - such as the Boy Scouts of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters, the...

Boy Scout/Cub Scout Charter Discussion Bob Casey—Pack 303, Britt Kennedy-Troop 303, Brad Schnell, PTO liaison, and Joe Mueller from the Greater St. Louis area council represented the Boy Scouts and answered questions. PTO members checked in at the door and received a blue card to be exchanged for a written ballot. The voting process was explained. Issues: Executive Committee role in supervising scouting activity and concerns if this is the role of the PTO. Boy Scouts/Cub Scouts are the only organizations that the PTO charters. Issues were brought to the Exec Council this summer and the PTO Exec council did...

Remember the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah? Of course, that was what helped put Mitt Romney on the map nationally and internationally. Financially, the Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) was deep in the hole. Then the bribery scandal surrounding the bid hit the news in a big way. The foundering committee turned to Mitt Romney, a guy with a great track record in turning around failing businesses. Romney came in and made everything better than even the most optimistic had hoped. The games went well (except for the ice skating scandal) and made money. Romney, who had previously failed in...

Bobby Montoya is a 7-year-old boy from Denver. Unlike a lot of young boys, Bobby has no desire to join the Boy Scouts. Instead, he wants to be a Girl Scout. We first saw Montoya's story over at 9news.com. The NBC affiliate reports that when the boy's mother, Felisha Archuleta, tried to sign her son up for Girl Scouts, a troop leader told her no. -SNIP-

PORTLAND, Ore/SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - Four Oregon men sued the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday for $20 million over childhood sexual abuse they say they suffered at the hands of a pedophile knowingly appointed as their scoutmaster in the 1970s. The four lawsuits, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, accuse the national Boy Scouts and its Cascade Pacific Council of negligence, fraud and sexual battery of a child in connection with the repeated molestation of the men, then aged 12 to 15. The suits, each seeking $5.2 million in damages, are the latest in a barrage of...

He was scared, but the 12-year-old Boy Scout still knew what to do when he got lost during a Utah wilderness outing: He built a shelter made of tree branches and wood to get through a cold night and he covered himself in dirt to stay warm...

Two Richmond officers who resigned in the midst of a police Explorer scandal have been indicted on allegations they intimidated two young Explorers they illegally armed and put to work for their private security firm. A federal grand jury in Oakland on Thursday indicted 31-year-old Danny Harris and 34-year-old Ray Thomas on conspiracy counts for allegedly trying to prevent the Explorers from telling authorities that Harris illegally bought them guns and sent them into crime-plagued neighborhoods. Federal law prohibits people under 21 from buying or owning guns.

The video talks about the number of members in Congress who were also Boy Scouts.

"On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, and to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight."These are the words of the Boy Scout oath. Recited at scout meetings across the nation, every week for the past 100 years, this is an important moment when boys aged 10 to 13 raise their right hands and promise to serve both God and country. I was a scout myself and believe that the Boy Scouts is the only...

SUSQUEHANNA - Ira Reynolds, who joined the Boy Scout movement in 1914 - when it was just 4 years old - was laid to rest early Thursday afternoon. About 50 youths from Boy Scout Troop 81 and Cub Scout Pack 81, thrust three fingers in the air and in unison cited the Scout pledge and oath just moments before Reynolds' casket was lowered at Evergreen Cemetery. The 108-year-old Reynolds was the nation's oldest Boy Scout when he died Nov. 13, and Thursday he was remembered by Scout executive Art Worrick as the embodiment of the oath. "The boys who encountered...

Should the BSA (Boy Scouts) comment on this O'Donnell Halloween sex smear campaign? I don't the level of involvement Brad Kurisko had with this plot but it is HIS uniform. He is also a Senior District Executive for the BSA, who should know better. Now the BSA and this idiot are all over the press and rag sites. Should the BSA comment or kick this joker out? Brad Kurisko's Linkedin Site His BSA organizationSeems to me they should squash this and distance themselves from this guy.

Six men who alleged they were sexually abused by an Oregon Boy Scouts leader in the 1980s have settled their lawsuits against the group's national organization for undisclosed amounts, the plaintiffs' attorney said Wednesday. The settlements include the case of one man, Kerry Lewis, who was awarded nearly $20 million in damages from Boys Scouts of America in a trial that ended in April. It was believed to be the largest such award against the national organization. A jury found the Texas-based group negligent for allowing a former assistant scoutmaster, Timur Dykes, to associate with Scouts after he admitted to...

On Tuesday's American Morning, CNN's Jeanne Moos picked up on the viral video of Boy Scouts booing President Obama's taped message to the recent National Jamboree, but got in a light jab at the youth for their behavior: "Booing would seem to go against some of the 12 tenets of Boy Scout Law. A Boy Scout is 'trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind'- wait a minute, 'courteous and kind'?" The correspondent, known for her light reports for the network, concluded the 6 am Eastern hour with "unique take" on the video, as anchor John Roberts put it. Moos noted that...

The National Boy Scout Jamboree ended, Wednesday, and President Obama broke a quasi-tradition by declining to address the Scouts. The quadrennial event has been held at Fort A.P. Hill near Washington D.C. since 1981. This year's event celebrated the 100th Anniversary of the organization. In lieu of an appearance at the 10-day-long Jamboree, Obama appeared on the View, attended several Democrat fundraisers and visited Detroit. He did send a short videotaped message which reportedly was shown in a mix of several other presentations. When the president appeared he was roundly booed by the 35,000 Scouts, one man who was there...

obama message booed at the boy scout national jamboree 2010

Boy Scouts shouldn't be able to meet in Boulder's public schools because they openly discriminate against gays, according to the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. Johanna Blumenthal, with the Boulder County ACLU, sent a letter today to officials with the Boulder Valley School District arguing that the Boy Scouts are a discriminatory group because they have openly defended the right to exclude homosexuals from membership. The ACLU raised the same concern in 2001, but is now buffering its argument with a recent Supreme Court ruling. The ACLU is asking the district to change its policies so that...

Incredibly, the president declined an invitation to this week's Boy Scout National Jamboree, opting to tape an episode of The View instead. Tonight, 45,000 Boy Scouts will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the organization’s founding at the Boy Scout National Jamboree, a quadrennial event being held at Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia — just a short car ride outside of Washington, D.C. President Obama was invited to attend this celebration of one of America’s most important institutions. But rather incredibly, he declined and appeared on an episode of The View with Joy Behar instead. If the president’s advisors had any sense...

President Obama will make history as the first sitting president on a daytime talk show when he visits with the ladies of "The View." But he'll be missing out on another historic occasion -- the Boy Scouts' Jamboree marking the group's 100th anniversary, right in the president's backyard. The Jamboree kicked off this week at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, where organizers had invited the president to speak to the 45,000 scouts in attendance. All three of Obama's predecessors have made it to one Jamboree while in office. But the president will instead be traveling Wednesday to New York for...

Original Title Obama Won’t Speak In-Person at Boy Scouts’ 100th Anniversary Celebration But Will Appear on ABC TV’s ‘The View’ ------------------ President Barack Obama, the honorary chairman of the Boy Scouts of America, will not speak in-person before the group on Wednesday at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, as part of the organization's 100th anniversary celebration. However, the president is sending a videotaped message to the scouts for Wednesday, the same day he will be in Manhattan to tape an appearance for ABC TV’s talk show “The View.” Bob Dries, chairman of national news and media at the Boy Scouts...

In the first three parts of this series, I showed how the Obama administration is distancing itself from the Boy Scouts of America because of the organization's conservative positions. Well, the White House just did it again. At the June 29 White House press briefing, press secretary Robert Gibbs was given another opportunity to show support for the BSA on behalf of the honorary president of the BSA, U.S. President Barack Obama. Ironically, once again Gibbs ducked and dodged questions about the White House's sentiment toward the BSA, by claiming ignorance of the BSA's recent legal victory against the Philadelphia...

A seven-year long assault on one of the finest and upright institutions in the United States has ended with a Federal ruling in favor of the Boys Scouts of America. Yet that doesn’t mean that the unjust persecution of the Boy Scouts has ended. (see story) Since its founding in 1910 as part of the international Scout Movement, more than 110 million Americans have been members of the BSA. The BSA goal is to train youth in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented...

A federal jury Wednesday decided that Philadelphia violated the Boy Scouts' First Amendment rights by using the organization's anti-gay policy as a reason to evict them from their city-owned offices near Logan Square."We can't be kicked out of the building or evicted, and we don't have to pay any rent," scouts attorney William M. McSwain said after the unanimous verdict by a jury of six women and two men.The scouts' lawyers expect U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter to issue a permanent injunction that bars eviction because of the policy - set by the national organization - that homosexuals cannot be...

"A federal jury on Wednesday declared that the city of Philadelphia had violated the First Amendment rights of the local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America by moving to evict it from its city-owned headquarters if it refused to repudiate the anti-gay policies of the scouts' national parent group. In its verdict, the jury of six women and two men found that the city had imposed an "unconstitutional condition" on the scouts and declared that it was not "reasonable" to do so."

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A Boy Scouts chapter in Philadelphia may have ousted just one gay scout in the decade since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the organization's right to ban gays, but that doesn't mean untold others haven't been shut out, a city lawyer told jurors Tuesday......

PHILADELPHIA, PA, June 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Tuesday opening arguments were heard in a case involving the Cradle of Liberty Scout Council, which is challenging the city of Philadelphia's decision to evict the Council from a building that it built and has maintained since 1929. The city said it would carry through with the eviction unless the Council rejected the Boy Scouts of America's policy banning open homosexuals from membership.In the Boy Scouts of America v. Dale case of 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 5-4 that the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) were constitutionally permitted...

Matthew Whalen's suspension will stand. On Wednesday night, the Lansingburgh Central School District board of education rejected Whalen's appeal of the punishment and decided not to expunge the blemish on the record of the Eagle Scout suspended for having a pocketknife in his car while the vehicle was on the grounds of Lansingburgh High School. Whalen received a 20-day suspension in September after he turned over to school administrators a 1 1/2-inch knife that he kept in his glove box as part of a car survival kit. He returned to school in October. Whalen has said he does not know...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A jury on Friday ordered the Boy Scouts of America to pay $18.5 million to a man sexually abused by a former assistant Scoutmaster in what is believed to be the largest such award against the organization. Lawyers for Kerry Lewis had asked the jury to award at least $25 million to punish the Boy Scouts for what the jury had already agreed in the first phase of the trial was reckless and outrageous conduct.

"Should the Legislature congratulate the Boy Scouts of America on the anniversary of the granting of its federal congressional charter despite the fact that this organization steadfastly continues to discriminate against individuals because of their sexual orientation or religious views?"

PLEASANTON — What birthday would be complete without a song? And to help celebrate 100 years of the Boy Scouts of America, hundreds of packs and troops obliged Friday with their own version. Scouts from throughout Northern California kicked off the Northern California 100th Anniversary Jamboree opening ceremony with their own chant at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. Members from as far south as Yosemite to as far north as the Oregon border belted out: "We got spirit, yes we do. We got spirit, how about you?" The chant grew in volume and enthusiasm as it snaked its way from one...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Minority Republican lawmakers sponsored a resolution this week honoring the 100-year anniversary of the Boy Scouts. This being California, the political equivalent of a school-yard brawl broke out. Democrats ultimately killed the resolution after criticizing the Boy Scouts for excluding homosexuals. Predictably, Republicans became indignant and accused Democrats of defaming a cherished American institution. It didn't end there. Democrats had introduced a resolution of their own honoring the Girl Scouts and included language that noted the organization does not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. That drew yet more indignation from Republicans, with one GOP...

An Oregon jury found the Boy Scouts of America and the local scout chapter negligent today in a landmark case that accused the iconic organization of covering up alleged sexual abuse of several of its boy scouts for years. The Boy Scouts of America face charges of sexual abuse by scout leaders.The nine-member jury ordered the organization to pay $1.4 million in damages, and will now move into a punitive phase that could result in the Boy Scouts of America paying a penalty that could reach $25 million. That decision is not expected for weeks. ~ Skip ~ In the...

Assembly Democrats killed a proposed resolution honoring the Boy Scouts of America. The measure died in the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a party-line vote. Three Republican voted to support the Boy Scouts — seven Democrats voted against the measure. According to the Los Angeles Times, Committee chairman Mike Feuer led the opposition – “citing the Scouts’ history of not allowing gays to serve in their leadership.”

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Boy Scouts of America showed reckless indifference to protecting young Scouts when it kept confidential two decades worth of files on suspected molesters among its troop leaders, a psychologist testified Wednesday as part of a $14 million lawsuit against the organization. Despite creating a remarkably in-depth file about sexual abusers, the Boy Scouts failed to warn parents or tell authorities about suspected or confessed pedophiles, said Gary Schoener, a national expert and consultant on sexual misconduct in the clergy, health care and other segments of society.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- The Boy Scouts of America call them "perversion files," internal documents used to track Scout leaders suspected of sexually abusing young boys, and they have became part of the public record in an Oregon lawsuit. A judge who had ordered the Scouts to release them received 1,247 files into evidence near the end of the day Friday - the third day of trial that began with a lawyer saying "you will be the first jury to see them." Attorneys Paul Mones and Kelly Clark won the release of files from 1965-85 to help them make the...

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Boy Scouts of America call them "perversion files," internal documents used to track Scout leaders suspected of sexually abuse young boys. On Friday they became part of the public record in an Oregon lawsuit. A judge who had ordered the Scouts to release them received 1,247 files into evidence near the end of the third day of trial... Attorneys...won the release of files from 1965-85 to help them make the case in a $14 million lawsuit against the Boy Scouts filed by a 37-year-old Oregon man. He was sexually molested in the early 1980s by assistant...

SIERRA VISTA — As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouting in America, local Scouts showed off a variety of hands-on projects and enjoyed some outdoor games during expo in Veterans’ Memorial Park on Saturday.

PETA is calling on the Boy Scouts of America to retire its "Fishing" and "Fish and Wildlife Management" merit badges (to read PETA's letter to Milton H. Ward, president of the Boy Scouts of America, click here). Fishing is no longer considered a benign activity. It is hunting in the water, and the idea of a scout armed with a gun or rod, setting out to actively attack animals who were minding their own business, is not in keeping with the image of scouting, now or in the past. Fishing is also inconsistent with the Boy Scout law, which states,...

~ Happy 100th Birthday, Boy Scouts of America!! ~February 8, 1910 to February 8, 2010 Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Starting with The Cubs Happy 100th Birthday, Boy Scouts of America Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

SIERRA VISTA — As part of the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Boy Scouting in America, local Scouts showed off a variety of hands-on projects and enjoyed some outdoor games during expo in Veterans’ Memorial Park on Saturday. Scouts often do activities in secluded areas, so the expo gave them a chance to share some of what they do, said James Harper, district program chairman for Boy Scouts. Saturday’s activities included the assembly of two monkey bridges, the assembly of a catapult, miniature boat racing and the Pinewood Derby. Five age groups of Cub Scouts competed in the Pinewood...

Okay, all of you forum propriety Nazis, you will all complain that this isn't in the proper forum and today, I really don't give a hang!Today is Scout Sunday, celebrated throughout the land, except, probably, in those churches that detest the Boy Scouts of America for their stand on Youth Protection and Homosexuality.Tomorrow is the 100th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts! I was a Scout on the 50th Anniversary and have the privilege of being a Scouter on the 100th.If you see a Scout at Church today, please congratulate him or her and thank him or her for service to...

Travel is a hassle for an 8-year-old Cub Scout from New Jersey. That's because Mikey Hicks shares the same name of a person who has drawn the suspicion of the Homeland Security Department. His mother tells The New York Times she sensed trouble when her son was a baby and she couldn't get a seat for him at a Florida airport. She says airline officials explained his name "was on the list." He was patted down as a 2-years-old at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The LAPD plans to launch its own Explorer program for young people this month, removing the Boy Scouts of America from management, officials said Tuesday. The Police Commission voted two months ago to end its relationship with the Scouts because of the organization's policies that discriminate against gays. The program had been operated by the Learning for Life Foundation, a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts. The move to create the Los Angeles Police Department's own teen program should be launched by Jan. 1, Deputy Chief Earl Paysinger told the Police Commission. "We have received inquiries from dozens of agencies on...

San Francisco » The Mormon church and Boy Scouts of America were named as defendants in lawsuits Monday claiming childhood sexual abuse by youth leaders decades ago. Alleged victims filed suits against both organizations in San Francisco and Seattle, and against the church alone in Portland, Ore. The plaintiffs are all represented by Portland attorney Kelly Clark, who has brought similar suits against the church and the Boy Scouts in the past. In the suit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, three brothers claim the church ignored their complaints about being molested by their Silicon Valley Boy Scout and Mormon...

The Boy Scouts of America turns 100 today!

Is Mitt Romney Conservative? by Gary Glenn Chairman, Campaign for Michigan Families The Washington, D.C. conservative weekly Human Events last year listed Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in its Top Ten list of RINOs (Republicans in Name Only), ranking him at number 8 in the nation with the following entry: "Has said, ’I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country.’ Supports (homosexual) civil unions and stringent gun laws. After visiting Houston, he criticized the city’s aesthetics, saying, ’This is what happens when you don’t have zoning.’" (Human Events) Romney should have ranked even higher on the list...

Hauling brush and old tires out of the woods in Allentown early Friday, members of the Service Employees International Union learned an Eagle-Scout-to-be is just as forgiving as he is trustworthy, loyal and helpful. The Eagle Scout service project of Kevin Anderson, 17, of Upper Saucon Township was caught up in a national media firestorm after Nick Balzano, an Allentown union official, threatened to file a grievance over Kevin's work clearing a trail in Kimmets Lock Park. Conservative pundits seized on the remark as evidence of the SEIU's ''thuggery,'' and Balzano later resigned. To show there were no hard feelings,...

The Boy Scouts' motto is: Be prepared. Who knew it meant preparing to de fend themselves against union thuggery? Kids, pay attention: This is a teachable moment for all of you on power, politics and Big Labor's culture of corruption. At last week's City Council meeting in Allentown, Pa., a top official of the local Service Employees International Union chapter ranted about 17-year-old Scout Kevin Anderson's park-cleanup work. To earn an Eagle Scout badge, Anderson devoted some 200 hours to picking up trash and helping clear a 1,000-foot walking path with fellow members of Boy Scouts Troop 301 of Center...

A brouhaha over a Boy Scout and his Eagle Scout project has brought down a local union leader. Nick Balzano has stepped down as head of the local Service Employees International Union. Balzano was roundly criticized for crying foul over a Boy Scout's effort to clear a walking path in a park in Allentown. He said the project was taking work away from union workers. Six other high-ranking members of the union have also resigned.

ARLINGTON, Nov. 18, 2009 – Character was the focus as Scouting saluted the military yesterday. U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton of Missouri told about 500 people from Boy Scouts’ National Capital Area Council that the values of Boy Scouts and the military are constant and that both organizations seek to serve something greater than themselves. This was the first Scout dinner saluting the military. Retired Navy Capt. Scott Gray, who now works with event sponsor General Dynamics, said he hopes to make the event an annual affair. The Crystal Gateway Marriott – a stone’s throw from the Pentagon – hosted the...