A Boy Scouts
sailing group that lost free use of a public boat slip
because of the Scouts' discriminatory policies has failed to
persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its case. The
justices on Monday let stand a unanimous California
supreme court ruling that the city of Berkeley may
treat the Berkeley Sea Scouts differently than other
nonprofits because the Scouts bar atheists and gays.
The leader of the
Sea Scouts argued that forcing the group to pay for a
berth at the marina violated the group's free speech and
freedom of association rights. The U.S. high court
ruled in 2000 that the Boy Scouts have the right to
bar openly gay scout leaders, a decision that rested on
the Scouts' First Amendment rights.
Even so, the
California supreme court said in March, local governments
are under no obligation to extend benefits to organizations
that discriminate. Berkeley, home of free speech
protests since the 1960s, adopted a nondiscrimination
policy on the use of its marina in 1997 and revoked
the Sea Scouts' subsidy a year later.
The Sea Scouts is
a branch of the Boy Scouts that teaches sailing,
carpentry, and plumbing. City officials had told the group
that it could retain its berthing subsidy if it broke
ties with the Boy Scouts or disavowed the policy
against gays and atheists, but the Sea Scouts refused.
Eugene Evans, who
leads the Sea Scouts, has been paying $500 a month out
of his own pocket to berth one boat at the Berkeley Marina;
the group removed two other boats because it could not
afford the rent. The group has about 40 members, down
from as many as 100 before the subsidy was removed.
Berkeley had
allowed the Scouts free use of the marina since the 1930s,
according to Evans. Sea Scouts officials said the
group was singled out because Berkeley elected
officials disapprove of the Boy Scouts' membership
policies. (AP)
