[philmont] Some good news

 
Statement of Boy Scouts of America: Court Rules Boy Scout Jamboree to Go
Forward

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).

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As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
Scouts and Scouters, do your best to be trustworthy,
loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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Received on Thu Apr 5 09:35:00 2007