Statement of Boy Scouts of America

Irving, TX / July 7, 2005 — Boy Scouts of America is disappointed that a federal district court in Chicago concluded that a statute permitting the military to lend support for the National Scout Jamboree violates the Establishment Clause.  The National Scout Jamboree is held every four years at Fort A.P. Hill in Fredericksburg, Virginia and will be held there later this year from July 25 to August 3, 2005.  Boy Scouts of America believes that the court’s ruling does not affect Scouting’s use of the federal land.

The National Scout Jamboree is a unique temporary tent city for tens of thousands of Scouts.  For ten days every four years, Scouts from all over the country camp together and engage in activities emphasizing physical fitness and appreciation of the outdoors.  The 2001 Jamboree was attended by 40,000 Scouts and Scout leaders and 250,000 visitors. 

The case, Winkler v. Chicago School Reform Board Trustees, was filed by the ACLU in 1999 against the Department of Defense and Department of Housing and Urban Development, among others.  Boy Scouts of America is not a party to the case. 

As the DOD told the court, the National Scout Jamboree is a unique training event for the military because it requires the construction, maintenance, and disassembly of a “tent city” capable of supporting many thousands for a week or longer. 

The military’s logistical and security support during the National Scout Jamboree has been an incomparable opportunity for training our armed forces.  The district court, however, invalidated the statute authorizing such support as unconstitutional because Scouting has a nonsectarian “duty to God” requirement.  Boy Scouts of America expects that the Department of Justice will appeal the district court’s opinion at the appropriate time, because the Establishment Clause was never intended to deprive our military of such valuable training. 

The district court relied on an unprecedented trial court decision from San Diego, Barnes-Wallace v. Boy Scouts of America, which also was filed by the ACLU and currently is on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  Boy Scouts of America and numerous amici curiae — including the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the States of Texas, Alabama, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Virginia — believe that case was wrongly decided.  Boy Scouts is confident that it will prevail.

In Winkler, the ACLU also failed to invalidate valuable programs offered by Boy Scouts of America with the support of HUD.  Boy Scouts of America uses support from the Public Housing Drug Elimination Program and Community Development Block Grant program to benefit low-income youth.  The district court dismissed the ACLU’s claims seeking to cancel that support.  .