The U.S. Supreme Court has decided to let stand a ruling saying the Boy Scouts cannot lease city-owned parkland in San Diego because the group is a religious organization.
The high court refused to hear the Boy Scouts' appeal from a 2003 ruling that San Diego acted improperly when it leased 18 acres of camp space to the Scouts because the group is a religious organization. The ruling said the lease violated federal law that prohibits the government promotion of religion.
The Boy Scouts say they have no theology and only hold the position that children should “do duty to God” to become productive citizens. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2000 that the group has a constitutional right to exclude openly gay men from serving as troop leaders and because it compels members to swear an oath of duty to God.
