The ACRU Blog

Currently there are over 1,350 signers of the petition at savethephillyscouts.org. These committed citizens feel the media should ask federal, state, and local candidates where they stand on the Boy Scouts.

Just a few days ago, the Oregon Magazine printed a letter from Senior Fellow Hans Zeiger asking people to sign the petition.

Please ask your friends and family to click over to savethephillyscouts.org and sign the online petition.

On Saturday March 29, Hans Zieger will be talking to Roger Hedgecock from 1:00-1:30pm ET. about the Philadelphia Scout issue. You can here him in San Diego on KOGO-AM or on one the many affiliates around the country. Check your listings for the station in your area.

On March 31, Hans will be talking to Ed Banker on "Intelligent Radio" on WZNZ-AM out of Jacksonville, FL. He will be on after the 10:30am news break. Again, he will be talking about the Philadelphia Scout issue.

If you have not already done so, please go to savethephillyscouts.org and sign the online petition.

Please, if you have a moment, head over to savethephillyscouts.org and sign the online petition. This is a project of the ACRU and several other organizations.

As has been noted on this site, the Philadelphia City Council is about to evict the Cradle of Liberty Council from its 80 year old headquarters. We want to know where federal, state and local candidates stand on the issue.

The petition at savethephillyscouts.org is to the media asking to questions every candidate on where they stand with the Boy Scouts. We need a lot of signatures, so please head over there and sign today.

In the March 10th Waco Tribune-Herald, Hans Zeiger has an op-ed talking about Texas Governor Rick Perry's book, On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts are Worth Fighting For.

Zeiger discusses the assault that the ACLU and the left have engaged in for years. He also praises Gov. Perry's defense of Scouting.

Says Zeiger,

What Perry calls the "vices of license" are incompatible with "the virtues of liberty." Though the "culture war" is much larger than the Scouting controversies, the attacks on Scouting serve Perry as a potent symbol of what's at stake.

You can get a copy of Rick Perry's book here and you can also read Hans Zeiger book on Scouting, Get Off My Honor: The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America, here.

This week is a busy radio week for the ACRU.

On Tuesday, March 11, John Armor will be talking to Greg Allen on "The Right Balance" at 10:20am EDT. He will be talking about the latest ACLU Outrage: ACLU defends: Exhibitionist by Night, Teacher by Day. You can listen online here.

On Wednesday, March 12, John will be talking to Pat Snyder on 550 WSAU-AM in Wausau, WI at 10:05am EDT. He will again be talking about the latest ACLU Outrage: ACLU defends: Exhibitionist by Night, Teacher by Day. You can listen online here.

On Thursday March 13, Hans Zeiger will be talking to Dr. Judy Heist on the "Let Freedom Ring Show" out of Atlanta, GA. He will be talking Lambda Legal and the Boy Scouts at 1:15pm.

On Friday, March 14, will be on the "Stan Milam Show" on 1230 WCLO-AM in Janesville, WI at 11:30am EDT. He will again be talking about the attack on the Boy Scouts. You can listen online here (a free signup is required).

Also on Friday, Hans will be on the "Tri State Viewpoint" with Jean Dean on WRVC-AM in Huntington, WV. He will be on at 12:35pm EDT and will be talking about the attack on the Boy Scouts.

More interviews will be posted as they come in.

Both Hans Zieger and John Armor will be on the radio March 4.

At 9:40am EST, Hans will be on with Jay Kersting on KLIK 1240AM. He will be talking about the attack on the Boy Scouts. You can listen live here.

Then at 11:33am EST, John will be talking to Greg Allen, on his show, "The Right Balance." He will be talking about the latest ACLU Outrage, ACLU argues over church tax exemption. You can find your local affiliate here or listen online here.

On top of the other interviews already mentioned, Hans Zeiger has one more interview on February 29th. He will be on "Viewpoints" on WTKF FM in Newport, NC. He will once again be talking about the constant attack on the Boy Scouts.

Over the next week, the ACRU is going to be on the radio several times talking about the issues.

Hans Zeiger will be talking about the attack by the left on the Boy Scouts of America. First he will be on today, the 28th at 7:00pm EST with Mike Bastinelli and "The Afternoon Update" on KIT-AM in Yakima, WA.

Then on February 29th, Hans will be on "The Guetzloe Report" on WAMT 1190AM in Orlando, FL. He will be on at 11:00am EST and you can listen live here.

Hans will also be on KKKK in Longmont, CO and the "Chuck Baker Show." He will be on at 3:00pm EST.

Finally, on Sat, March 1 at 9:00pm, Hans will be on "The Trevor Carey Show" on KNUS 710 in Denver, CO. You can listen to Hans live here.

Also on the 29th, John Armor will be on talking about the latest ACLU Outrage, the ACLU having blood on their hands.

First, at 8:35am EST, John will be on with "Sean and Casey" on WCBM 680AM in Baltimore, MD. You can listen live here.

Then at 4:00pm EST, John will be on "The Chuck Baker Show" on KKKK in Longmont, CO.

On Saturday, March 1, John will on with Niel Young and "The Advocates" on WEZS-AM in Lanconia, NH. You can here him at 9:10am EST.

Horace Cooper will also be on next week. He will be on the "Zeb on the Ranch" show with Zeb Bartley on Wednesday, March 5 at 8:06am EST. He will be talking about the ACLU and FISA.

More updates as they come in.

ACRU Senior Fellow Hans Zeiger responded to LA Times columnist Jay Fernandez's February 12th column on Scouting and the ACRU's defense of it.

His response can be seen here. Scroll down to the second letter.

Over the next several days, the ACRU is going to have several appearances on radio.

Sunday, February 17, Hans Zeiger will be on WTBF in Troy, Alabama. He will be on at 10:30am and 6:30 pm EST. He will be talking to Doc Kirby on "On the Bookshelf." Hans will be talking about his book, "Get Off My Honor: The Assault on the Boy Scouts of America."

On Tuesday, February 19, John Armor will be on WBIG News and "The Big Wake Up Call" in Batavia, IL. He will be on from 9:15-9:30am EST and will be talking about the latest ACLU Outrage: Indiana Driver's License case.

Also on Tuesday, Ken Blackwell will be talking to Janet Parshall on her nationally syndicated radio show. Ken will be on at 3:30pm EST for about 20 minutes. He will be talking to Janet about FISA. Click here to find out where the show will be on in your area.

Finally, on Thursday, February 21, Peter Ferrara will be talking to Ed Banker on his "Intelligent Radio" show on 1460 WZNZ AM in Jacksonville, FL. He will be on at 11:06am EST for the half hour. He will be talking about the DC Gun Ban Case.

Enjoy your President's Day Weekend.

ACRU Senior Fellow Han Zeiger has an op-ed in today's Washington Times. He discusses Philadelphia's Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America about to be kicked out of their headquarters they have been in for 80+ years.

Al Knight wrote this column, which appeared in the Denver Post a couple days ago. He talks about how the Philadelphia City Council is forcing the Cradle of Liberty Council out of its headquarters. In the article he also mentions the ACRU and the fine work we are doing.

Knight sums up the entire problem with the Boy Scouts in Philadelphia in one sentence:

The youth of Philadelphia need the Boy Scouts as much as ever, but the City Council is too cowardly to stand up to the unreasonable and vindictive demands of special interest groups.

Please, let the Philadelphia City Council know what you think about this. Contact information for the members of the Council can be found here.

The Post's description is a classic example of moral equivalence, in which aggressor and victim are co-belligerents.

By Robert Knight
Culture and Media Institute
November 20, 2007

The Washington Post this week stepped delicately around the thuggish tactics employed by Philadelphia City Solicitor Romulo Diaz, who has engineered a coup against the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

In the November 19 article, "Philadelphia Gives Boy Scouts Ultimatum," Post staff writer Dafna Linzer noted that Diaz had given the Boy Scouts until December 3 to agree to pay $200,000 or lose the headquarters the Scouts have had in a city park for nearly 100 years.

The local Scouts, who serve 64,000 mostly minority boys in Philadelphia and in two adjoining counties, had an agreement to lease the building for a dollar a year. Urged on by Diaz, the City Council on May 31 invoked a "sexual orientation" law and reneged on the agreement.

Here's how the Post summarized the city's crackdown: "The confrontation between the city and the nation's third largest Scouts chapter has been building for four years, with each side blaming the other for backing out of previous agreements and for escalating tensions."

So who's the bully? Egged on by local homosexual activists, city officials are clearly the aggressors, not the Scouts. But the Post's description is a classic example of moral equivalence, in which aggressor and victim are co-belligerents.

The Post also noted that the city "has invited the Boy Scouts to remain in the nearly 100-year-old building as paying tenants."

"Invited?" That's a little like saying a mugger "has invited" his victim to remain unharmed as long as he forks over his wallet.

Here are a few things the Post story left out:

. The architect of the harassment against the Scouts, City Solicitor Diaz, is openly homosexual, as has been reported in the Philadelphia press.
. The Scouts built the building with their own money, and then gave it to the city in 1928.
. The Scouts had a lease "in perpetuity" with the city, an agreement the City Council broke.
. The Scouts bar openly homosexual Scoutmasters and members for moral reasons and for the sake of protecting young boys from possible harm, not because they are motivated by bigotry or prejudice. The Post article read as if the Scouts have no rational reason for wanting to determine whether prospective leaders or members are attracted sexually to males.
. The national Boy Scouts of America organization gets no ink to defend itself. Cradle of Liberty spokesman Jeff Jubelirer told the Post that the local chapter was trying its best in 2003 to cave in, with a statement saying that "prejudice, intolerance and unlawful discrimination in any form are unacceptable within the ranks of Cradle of Liberty Council."

Quoth Jubelirer: "We were trying to be amendable to all sides, but National would not allow us to keep that language, so we rescinded it. We can't have a policy where we put in specific words that National won't allow or we'll loose [sic] our charter. We can't afford not to be part of the national Boy Scouts."

It might be nice to know what the mean, bigoted old National headquarters thinks of this.

. No one was quoted who has any problem with the city "fathers" threatening to kick out the city's premiere youth organization.
. Philadelphia suffers from the leading murder and violent crime rate among top 10 cities in the United States. Most of it is being committed by fatherless young men.

The chief bully, Diaz, got the last quote: "If I do not receive an executed lease, signed by the Boy Scouts, to remain as tenants paying a fair market rent, we will begin looking for alternative tenants that can take over the property June 1, 2008."

How about a Gay Pride Center? No problem there with a lack of money or connections. And it would make a fine kick-off to Gay Pride Month, which the city celebrates annually in June with taxpayer-sponsored activities. Diaz could be the first guest speaker.

As for the ongoing slaughter in the streets, Philadelphia had 406 homicides in 2006, courtesy of fatherless barbarians who could have benefited from character building offered by the Boy Scouts.

"It's a disturbing statistic, we're very concerned about it, and we're going to do everything we can to reduce it," Police Commissioner Sylvester M. Johnson was quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Over at City Hall, the City Council and the mayor are doing their part by blessing the city solicitor's ambitious social agenda. If the Scouts are forced out of town, it might not make Philadelphia a more livable place.

But let's look at the bright side. Taxable champagne sales will soar in some circles.

Maybe the city can put the money toward building a more efficient morgue.

Robert Knight is director of the Culture and Media Institute, a division of the Media Research Center.

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

In what has become increasingly common tactic, the St. Joseph County United Way in Indiana has cut off funding the Scouts because Scouting no longer meets the new criteria for funding programs. The United Way has decided to focus on dealing with "conflict resolution" in the youth programs it supports and, unaccountably, it has rejected the Scout program because it focuses too much on "developing leadership." As a result the Scouts will only receive token phase out funding from the United Way this year. Other county United Ways in the South Bend area continue to support the Scouts.

Article here.

As part of its effort to stop the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from intimidating state and local governments to remove religious symbols from public places, the American Legion is organizing its local posts to inventory and monitor local memorials in their areas. This is part of the larger campaign by the Legion which includes passage of the "Veterans' Memorials, Boy Scouts, Public Seals, and Other Public Expressions of Religion Protection Act of 2007," H.R. 725 and S. 415, which includes special protections for the Scouts. (Editor's note: The ACRU has offered to help the Legion in litigation stopping the ACLU.)

Article here.

Iowa has amended its state non-discrimination law to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" among the categories covered. Lawmakers rejected a plea from state and national Scout officials to include in the legislation a recognition of the 2000 Dale Supreme Court decision which upheld the Scouts' constitutional right to exclude openly homosexual individuals from participating in Scouting. Scout officials fear that the new law will prompt lawsuits against the Scouts in Iowa.

Article here.

Without any prior notification, the Philadelphia City Council voted 16-1 on May 31st to authorize the city to end the lease with the Cradle of Liberty Scout Council for the headquarters building the city has leased to the Scouts since 1928. The lease, which is below current market value, was supposedly to be in force "in perpetuity." The city is demanding that the council, which serves about 64,000 boys in Philadelphia and surrounding areas, either publicly change its policy and accept openly homosexual individuals as Scouts and leaders or else pay fair market value to continue renting the prime real estate. Several city officials said the council took the action to increase the pressure on the Scouts. The Scout council has labeled the city council's action as another example of the unfair way the city has dealt with this issue.

Article here.

Protesters, including some in Scout uniforms, organized by the homosexual activist organization Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) demonstrated outside the Scouts' national meeting in Atlanta. They were demanding that the Scouts change their policy on excluding openly homosexual individuals from Scouting. Click here for the news article with video clip. For PFLAG's press release, click here.

As a rule, we do not publicize anti-Scouting propaganda, but we have decided to make an exception here. We are including it because it is essential that you know what those attacking Scouting are telling your friends, neighbors, co-workers and even members of your own family.

PFLAG's news release is very self-serving. They use terms like "discrimination," "intolerance" and "fairness" because they know that most Americans oppose unwarranted discrimination and try to be tolerant and fair. What they don't acknowledge is that the United States Supreme Court has upheld the Scouts' constitutional right to set their own standards for membership and leadership. And, other private organizations, including churches and PFLAG itself, have the same right. If this group feels so strongly that the Scouts are intolerant, PFLAG has a constitutional right to set up its own youth organization and limit membership to homosexuals.