Partial Settlement Means that U.S. Officials No Longer will Discriminate Based on Religion as Part of their Official Duties

November 15, 2004
CHICAGO – The Department of Defense has agreed to cease direct sponsorship of hundreds of Boy Scout units on military facilities across the United States and overseas in a negotiated settlement agreement submitted to a federal court in Chicago today. The settlement resolves an important part of a broader lawsuit brought in 1999 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois.

Previously, Department of Defense (DOD) units held charters to lead hundreds of Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs. Government employees who led those DOD-sponsored troops and packs were required to abide by two rules related to religion promulgated by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The first rule from the BSA necessitated that government employees exclude any youth from membership in the Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts simply because they do not believe in God. Additionally, the BSA obliges troop and pack leaders to compel youth to swear an oath of duty to God. By holding charters to operate Boy Scout Troops and Cub Scout Packs, DOD employees acting in their official capacities administered a religious oath and practiced religious discrimination. The ACLU of Illinois alleged in this litigation that such direct government sponsorship of BSA units violates the religious liberty of youth who wish to participate but do not want to express a belief in God.

The settlement does not stop off-duty DOD employees, on their own time, from sponsoring BSA units. Also, BSA units not sponsored by DOD still will have access to military facilities made available to other non-governmental entities.

“If our Constitution’s promise of religious liberty is to be a reality, the government should not be administering religious oaths or discriminating based upon religious beliefs,” said Adam Schwartz of the ACLU of Illinois in announcing the settlement. “This agreement removes the Pentagon from direct sponsorship of Scout troops that engage in such discrimination.”

The agreement presented to U.S. District Court Judge Blanche Manning today settles one element of a lawsuit first filed in 1999. In that lawsuit, the ACLU of Illinois challenged the use of public funds by the Chicago Public Schools, the Department of Defense and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to support Boy Scout troops. The Chicago Public Schools previously entered into a settlement agreeing to stop their direct sponsorship of Boy Scout troops.

Under the terms of today’s settlement, the DOD has sixty (60) days to issue a statement to each and every DOD facility and base across the world making clear that DOD entities may not sponsor Boy Scout organizations. The statement mandates that appropriate personnel terminate direct DOD sponsored Boy Scout charters or amend the charters to substitute an appropriate group or organization that is not controlled by the Pentagon. The statement is then to be incorporated into a DOD Directive within one year of the date of the statement.

“It is critical that the Pentagon send this very clear signal to its units across the globe to insure that government officials are not engaged in religious discrimination in their official capacity,” said Charles Peters of the Chicago law firm Schiff Hardin who assisted the ACLU of Illinois in the lawsuit.

The federal court in Chicago still must decide whether the DOD and the Department of Housing and Urban Development can spend millions of taxpayer dollars to support Boy Scout units that practice religious discrimination and require religious oaths. The ACLU of Illinois has raised concern, for example, about the Pentagon’s handpicking the BSA – and no other organization – for the expenditure of an average of $2 million each year to support the national Boy Scout Jamboree. A decision on this and other issues is pending.

Laura Friedel and David Scott of the Schiff Hardin law firm also are assisting with the litigation.