In 2000, John Scalise, an atheist parent, and his son Benjamin sued Lake Huron Area Council and the Mount Pleasant, Michigan school board seeking to bar use of school buildings for Boy Scout meetings after school hours and to bar distribution of Boy Scout fliers to students during school hours. The Michigan courts ruled against the Scalises, and today the Supreme Court of the United States brought the case to an end by denying the Scalises’ petition for a writ of certiorari.

After the filing of this case, Congress reacted to the increasing attacks on Boy Scouts’ ability to have equal access to school facilities by passing the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act. Earlier this year, the United States Department of Education issued regulations implementing the Act that require schools to provide Boy Scouts with the same access to school facilities for meetings and flyer distribution purposes that is provided to other outside youth or community organizations. The Act and its implementing regulations should be very helpful in discouraging future litigation challenging Boy Scouts’ right to equal access to school facilities.

• Click here for news coverage of the Court’s action
• Click here for the Boy Scouts brief to the Supreme Court