The ACRU Blog

The ACRU joined 59 other groups to call on Congress to confirm President Bush's nominees to the federal bench.

This current judiciary committee has let Peter Keisler, a nominee for the DC Circuit Court sit without a vote for nearly a year and a half.

The ACRU maintains a listing of all the circuit court nominations currently open.

Below the fold is the press release and the open letter sent to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee

Below is the text of my follow-up letter on behalf of the American Civil Rights Union to the Guilford County School Board of North Carolina. (My first letter, dated August 27, 2007, may be found here.)

September 10, 2007

Dear School Board Member:

I am submitting these comments regarding the proposed rules concerning meetings of the Boy Scouts of America and other youth groups at Guilford County public schools, and communications regarding those meetings. I understand that the School Board has asked for comments regarding the proposed rules before its next meeting Thursday night, September 13.

We want to emphasize at the outset that the American Civil Rights Union does not represent the Boy Scouts, and we are not legal counsel for the Boy Scouts. We are an entirely separate, independent organization, with thousands and thousands of supporters across the country who want us to speak up to defend the Scouts and their values wherever we can and whenever we can. We have participated in legal battles as well to defend the rights of others to express and work for the values in which they believe.

One proposal now being considered by the Guilford County School Board, allegedly based on safety concerns, would prohibit the Scouts and others from meeting in district schools during after school programs until 6pm each night. The Scouts would have to hold any of their meetings at schools after 6pm.

Another proposal would prohibit the Scouts from distributing literature to other students and their families through the school's notice distribution system that provides flyers to students to take home to their parents.

The Federal Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, 20 USC 7905, Section 9525 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by Section 901 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, provides,

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no public elementary school, public secondary school, local educational agency, or State educational agency that has a designated open forum or a limited public forum and that receives funds made available through the Department shall deny equal access or a fair opportunity to meet to, or discriminate against, any group officially affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, or any other youth group listed in title 36 of the United States Code (as a patriotic society), that wishes to conduct a meeting within that designated open forum or limited public forum, including denying such access or opportunity or discriminating for reasons based on the membership or leadership criteria or oath of allegiance to God and country of the Boy Scouts of America...."

This Act protects the Girl Scouts as well as the Boy Scouts, and other youth groups. We submit that restricting Scout meetings with a claim regarding safety that does not have a rational basis, where, indeed, the proposed rule seems to reduce safety rather than enhance it, would be a violation of the Act. We think asking students to go home and come back after dark for youth group meetings only opens up new dangers for students. We have not seen or heard any factual basis for a claim that allowing the Scouts to meet right after school along with other after school activities raises any real safety concern for anyone. Therefore, we think adoption of the proposed rule in these circumstances would warrant investigation by the applicable enforcement authorities, as well as us and others, as to whether the law has been violated.

Secondly, if the school district prohibits the Scouts from distributing meeting notices through the school's standard notice distribution system, with a packet of flyers that is sent home with each student for the day, then under the Federal law the school district could not send home any notice from any outside organization that relates to the students in any way. That would include announcements for Little League tryouts, Red Cross blood drives, privately sponsored public events, etc. Including any of these notices but excluding the Boy Scouts, and other protected organizations, would constitute discrimination against the Scouts and not provide equal access, in violation of the Act. We believe as well that exactly which notices are sent out would be subject to freedom of information requests.

Finally, apart from what the law requires, there is the question of what constitutes sound public policy. Our nation is plagued by many youth problems, including violence, alcoholism, gangs, drugs, and teen sex and pregnancy. We submit that in this context school administrators would be failing their communities if they do not try to accommodate youth groups with a long record of promoting sound moral values and good conduct by students, like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. In 2010, the Boy Scouts of America will be celebrating their one hundredth anniversary. They and their Scout members have done much good work for our nation's communities during that one hundred years, and lots of boys have benefited for their entire lives because of the values they learned in their scouting experience. For a School Board to deny the Scouts meetings during after school activities on the basis that these meetings are somehow dangerous, and to hamper Scout communications with the community, would reflect serious problems of judgment.

Yours Truly,

Peter Ferrara
General Counsel

Below is the text of my letter on behalf of the American Civil Rights Union to the Guilford County School Board of North Carolina, in response to their plans to suppress the recruiting efforts and meetings of the Boy Scouts in the county's school districts:

August 27, 2007

Dear School Board Member:

We understand that the Guilford County School Board will consider a couple of proposals relating to the Boy Scouts at its meeting this Thursday night, August 30. One proposal, allegedly based on safety concerns, would prohibit the Scouts and others from meeting in District schools during after school programs until 6 pm each night. The Scouts would have to hold any of their meetings at schools after 6pm.

Another proposal would prohibit the Scouts from distributing literature to other students and their families through the school's notice distribution system that provides flyers to students to take home to their parents.

The federal Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, 20 USC 7905, Section 9525 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by Section 901 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, provides,

"Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no public elementary school, public secondary school, local educational agency, or State educational agency that has a designated open forum or a limited public forum and that receives funds made available through the Department shall deny equal access or a fair opportunity to meet to, or discriminate against, any group officially affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, or any other youth group listed in title 36 of the United States Code (as a patriotic society), that wishes to conduct a meeting within that designated open forum or limited public forum, including denying such access or opportunity or discriminating for reasons based on the membership or leadership criteria or oath of allegiance to God and country of the Boy Scouts of America...."

The school district cannot evade its responsibilities under this federal law through a sham claim regarding safety that is dubious on its face. We have seen no evidence that after school meetings by the Boy Scouts have raised any safety concern. Transparently, safety concerns are raised by requiring children to come back to school after dark for their meetings.

Similarly, under the federal law, the Boy Scouts cannot be prevented from using a school's notice distribution system regarding their meetings at the school if any other outside group, or any student club or organization affiliated with an outside youth or community group, is allowed to use the notice distribution system. This would include the Red Cross, Selective Service, or the local homeless shelter.

We would be happy to receive and review any materials justifying these two proposals. But absent such a convincing demonstration, if the School Board adopts either or both of these proposals, we will seek an investigation by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Education. Among the possible sanctions that could result from such an investigation is the loss of federal education funds for the school district.

In addition, if our investigation of the school district's policies leads us to conclude that the rights of public school students in Guilford County are being violated, we will not hesitate to bring legal action to vindicate and enforce those rights.

Sincerely,

Peter J. Ferrara
General Counsel

The American Civil Rights Union is proud to be a signatory to this letter mentioned in the press release included below from the Committee for Justice and linked here (PDF document). Be sure to also read our own letter sent independently to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, "In Defense of Judge Southwick: An Open Letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee."

60 Groups Demand Judiciary Cmte Do Its Job on Judges
Decry Character Assassination of Iraq War Vet Southwick

WASHINGTON, DC - Today, a coalition of about 60 organizations - including the Committee for Justice (CFJ) - delivered a letter to each of the 19 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing deep concern that the "lack of progress in reporting judicial nominees out of committee . . . has made it impossible for the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty of advice and consent in good faith."

The letter reminds the senators that "[t]he American people want you to do your job, [including] processing and voting on the President's judicial nominees." It explains that "[t]he broken promises and personal attacks on nominees that have accompanied this inaction . . . only add to the public perception that your committee is not living up to its responsibilities."

The coalition decries the fact that some of "the nominees are being subjected to obstruction borne of partisan politics" and cites as a prime example the "ugly campaign of character assassination" against Judge Leslie Southwick, an Iraq War veteran nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Southwick is rated "unanimously well-qualified" by the American Bar Association. "The American people will ask why you put the demands of [liberal] special interest groups above the fair treatment of a man who interrupted a highly successful career to serve his country in Iraq," the letter notes.

The letter concludes by asking that Judiciary Committee members "allow the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty of advice and consent, by ensuring that each and every judicial nominee is given a hearing and is reported out of committee for consideration by the full Senate in a timely manner. . . . In other words, we ask only that you do your job by putting statesmanship above politics and special interests."

"Special interest groups on the Left hold a lot of sway over Democratic senators on the judges issue," explained CFJ executive director Curt Levey. "But it is the responsibility of Senate Democrats to stick to their earlier promises about confirming Judge Southwick, and it is the responsibility of Republican senators to fight for this exceptionally qualified nominee. That responsibility needs to start in the Judiciary Committee."

Click here for the full text of the letter, including a list of signers..

The Committee for Justice is a non-partisan, non-profit organization devoted to promoting constitutionalist judicial nominees and the rule of law.

With the Democrats in the Senate stalling on the consideration and confirmation of 19 nominees to the district court level - thus creating a "judicial emergency - and esp. with the malicious attempts to derail the confirmation of Judge Leslie Southwick to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the American Civil Rights Union has sent a letter to each member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and other important Senate leaders. Here is that letter. (Document is in PDF format.)