California’s 1,600 judges should not be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts because of the youth organization’s discrimination against homosexuals, according to an amendment proposed by the Los Angeles County Bar Association.
The association has submitted a letter to California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald M. George, asking the court to amend its Code of Judicial Conduct “so that membership by a judge in a nonprofit youth organization is not permitted if that organization practices invidious discrimination.”
“In our opinion that would be highly inappropriate and unconstitutional,” Boy Scouts national spokesman Gregg Shields told WorldNetDaily. “Judges have same rights that you and I do.”
A website called Grassfire.net aims to deliver 400,000 online-generated petitions to the California Supreme Court in support of the Scouts. The site indicates that more than 375,000 petitions have been signed.
Shields said that if the judges were barred from the Boy Scouts, “there is nothing that would stop their prohibition from the Catholic Church or Orthodox Jewish faith or any number of private organizations that share the Boy Scouts’ views.”
He notes that the Boy Scouts’ right to establish its standards of membership, including a belief in God, was upheld by the California Supreme Court itself. In August 1998, the state’s high court ruled that the Boy Scouts can exclude as members young men who are either homosexual or who refuse to affirm the existence of God in the Scout’s oath.
“We feel confident that the judges will agree with us and recognize their own rights,” Shields said.
Chief Justice George said in a statement that the state Supreme Court “has decided to take up the matter at a future administrative conference after it undertakes a further study of the proposals.” He did not indicate when the justices would reach a decision.
Constitutional right to discriminate
In June 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale that the youth organization had a constitutionally based right to discriminate on the basis of “sexual orientation.” James Dale was an Eagle Scout whose adult membership in the Boy Scouts was revoked when the organization learned that he is an avowed homosexual and homosexual rights activist.
 Eagle Scout James Dale with parents in 1988 (Photo courtesy Dale family) |
In the aftermath of that ruling, the California high court re-examined its code of conduct but determined that the Dale decision did not justify a change.
The L.A. County Bar Association, however, contends that two subsequent developments suggest that the court should revisit the issue.
In response to a request by the San Francisco Bar Association, the judicial officers of the Superior Court for San Francisco agreed “not to participate as a member of a branch or chapter of an organization that invidiously discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation by excluding members on the ground that their sexual orientation alone renders them ‘unclean,’ ‘immoral’ or ‘unfit.'”
The exception, the San Francisco association said, would be if the branch or chapter to which the judicial officer belongs has disavowed the “discriminatory policy.”
The L.A. association also noted that the Bay Area’s Santa Clara County Bar Association made a similar request.
These actions “reflect a growing understanding and acknowledgment that judicial membership in such discriminatory organizations is fundamentally incompatible with judges’ duties to avoid both actual and perceived bias,” the L.A. Bar said. “They also illustrate the need for a uniform approach and action at a statewide level.”
The L.A. Bar also referred to “The Judicial Council’s 2001 Report on Sexual Orientation Fairness in California Courts,” which documented “significant instances of actual and perceived sexual orientation-based bias in the California courts.”
The report said it found that 56 percent of the gay and lesbian respondents experienced or observed a negative comment or action toward gay men or lesbians, and 50 percent of lesbian and gay court users believed that the courts are not providing fair and unbiased treatment for lesbians or gay men.
The L.A. Bar concluded that these findings, among others, “demonstrate at a minimum, a perception of bias in the court system,” noting that one of the canon’s basic goals is to eliminate this.
The letter to the California chief justice pointed out that Canon 2C of the code already prohibits membership by a judge in an organization that practices invidious discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation, because such membership “gives rise to a perception that the judge’s impartiality is impaired.”
The L.A. Bar wants to change the last sentence of the canon, which says, “So long as membership does not violate Canon 4A, this canon does not bar membership in a nonprofit youth organization.”
Canon 4A requires judges to conduct all of their extrajudicial activities so that they do not cast reasonable doubt on the judge’s capacity to act impartially, demean the judicial office, or interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties.
Backlash
Since the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Boy Scouts’ policy has sparked protests and boycotts around the country, though Shields say the overall impact on the organization has been minimal.
“The Boy Scouts is doing very well,” he said.
Earlier this month, a bill was introduced to the California legislature that would fine business owners up to $150,000 without trial for refusing to hire a transsexual. The law would encompass religious businesses and nonprofits such as the Boy Scouts who might refuse a transsexual on moral or religious grounds.
Many United Way chapters, a major source of funding for the Scouts, have adopted policies that require the Scouts to allow homosexual leadership or be cut off. Other groups that have reacted to the Scouts’ policies include the National Education Association, AFL-CIO and the National Parent Teachers Association.
The Los Angeles City Council voted 11 to 0 to cut the city’s ties with the Scouts and instructed the Los Angeles Police Department to dismantle its Explorers unit, a Boy Scouts-affiliated police cadet training program. The city’s Parks and Recreation also imposed a fee on the Boy Scouts for use of its facilities for camping and other activities.
Other cities, such as Chicago, San Francisco and San Jose, have denied the Boy Scouts access to city parks. At the 2000 Democratic National Convention, a troop of Scouts were vigorously booed while making a presentation on stage.
Related stories:
United Way chapter cuts off Scouts
Homosexuals protest ‘bigot’ Boy Scouts
Child molester leads ‘gays’ in Scout protest
Homosexual group tries to squelch website
Boy Scouts attacked in Congress
Gore challenged to weigh in on Scouts
ACLU demands ouster of Boy Scouts
Scout group petitions LA sheriff
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