The Troop 1954
Wednesday Newsletter

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Announcements

1) There are numerous events in February for scouts needing extra participation.  This Saturday, the 29th is our Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.  Come and help organize and show spirit and we'll award a event credit.  Report to State is February 5th.  While we are not going as a troop, some members will go, again along with our Cub Scouts.  Again, we'll give credit for participation.  The following Sunday is Scout Sunday, more details on that coming up but again, credit for going to church with the troop.  The following weekend is our Kiwanis Camp Camp-out.  This is really vital for any scout under First Class seeking advancement.  We'll be doing all those activities and skills that are required to get you up a level or two.  The following weekend is Merit Badge University.  You can't participate in this unless you're currently signed up.  The following Wednesday is our First Aid CPR class.  So, that's six scout activities in the month of February!  You'll see the dates on the calendar below.

3) First aid and CPR class will be February 26th at 2:00 at San Marcos High School. The Philmont crew is required to attend. Others are encouraged to attend.

4) Our Cub Scouts will hold their Pinewood Derby here on January 29th. Drop by and show support if you can.

5) Camporee is coming up in April. The date has been pushed back by at least one week. The theme of the Camporee is Baden-Powell’s 1907 camp at Brownsea Island.

6) Merit Badge University.  Did you remember to pay?  If not, get that check in really fast!

Michigan appeals court rejects atheist's suit against Boy Scouts

By DAVID EGGERT, Associated Press Writer

LANSING, Mich.

An atheist who sued a school district for letting the Boy Scouts recruit in his son's school lost an appeal Friday when a court ruled there was no religious discrimination.

The Michigan Court of Appeals let stand a judge's ruling that the Mount Pleasant Public Schools' ties with the Boy Scouts of America did not violate the state's constitution or civil rights act.

The school district allowed the Boy Scouts to hang posters and have a recruiter invite students to an informational meeting.

A unanimous three-judge panel said the district's policy was acceptable because the Boy Scouts received no special treatment or emphasis compared to other groups that visited the schools.

"It had a secular purpose and did not advance religion over non-religion," Judge Bill Schuette wrote. "Simply because the Boy Scouts utilized the system does not itself create an Establishment Clause violation."

As interpreted by the courts, the Establishment Clause has come to mean that government generally is prohibited from promoting or endorsing religion.

The plaintiff, John Scalise, volunteered to become a troop leader in 1997 when his third-grade son, Benjamin, joined the Cub Scouts. But the elder Scalise declined to sign the Scouts' declaration of religious principle, which is required of leaders. The declaration recognizes an "obligation to God."

The Boy Scouts revoked Scalise's membership, and he pulled his son from the group.

The Scalises then sued the Boy Scouts and Mount Pleasant Schools in 2000, alleging religious discrimination.

At first, Isabella County Circuit Court Judge Paul Chamberlain found the defendants liable for the school-hour recruiting but later changed his mind. The appeals court said the recruiter's visit was informative - not educational - and therefore did not constitute a traditional government function.

Timothy Taylor, the Scalises' attorney, called the ruling the "most judicially corrupt and dishonest" he had seen.

"This was a political decision - not a legal one, and one in which the undisputed facts of the case were completely disregarded," Taylor said.

He said an appeal likely will be filed with the Michigan Supreme Court.

But the Boy Scouts and school district said they did nothing wrong.

"We were simply trying to provide boys with an opportunity to join scouting," said Dale Holbrook, Scout executive for the Lake Huron Area Council. The council oversees 15,200 Boy Scouts in northeast and central Michigan, including Mount Pleasant.

Mount Pleasant Schools Superintendent Gary Allen said the ruling "validates our operating procedures and policies."

But he noted the district no longer allows the Boy Scouts and many other groups to hand out fliers because the schools were being bombarded with literature.

"People assumed our decision was related to the lawsuit, but it wasn't," Allen said. "We were getting 250,000 fliers a year."

The case is Scalise v. Boy Scouts of America and Mount Pleasant Public Schools.
 

September 9-11 Pedernales Falls Camp Out