By Dan Levine
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 20 (Reuters) - The Boy Scouts of America
can lease public land from the City of San Diego for a cheap
rate, even though the scouts prohibit atheists, agnostics and
homosexuals from becoming members, a U.S. appeals court ruled.
In an opinion on Thursday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals in San Francisco said two leases held by an organization
chartered by the scouts do not violate the constitutional
separation of church and state.
The Boy Scouts policy of denying membership to gay scouts
and scout leaders has prompted protests and lawsuits. In 2000,
the organization won a 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing
the organization to ban gays, whose conduct, the Boy Scouts
argued, violated its values. The Scouts reaffirmed the policy
earlier this year.
In San Diego, an organization chartered by the Boy Scouts
leases portions of two popular city parks to provide children
with an urban camping experience. In exchange for spending money
developing facilities on the land, the Scouts pay virtually no
rent.
A group of plaintiffs who are either lesbians or agnostics
sued, saying they would use the land leased by the scouts but
for the organization's discriminatory policies.
A lower court judge found the leases unconstitutional, but
on Thursday a unanimous three judge 9th Circuit panel reversed
the decision. The city has leased 123 parcels of land to
nonprofit agencies, the overwhelming majority of which are
secular in nature, the court wrote, and 96 of those leases
require no payment of rent.
"The city's practice of leasing its lands is by no means
occasional or targeted in favor of sectarian organizations," it
wrote.
M. Andrew Woodmansee, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said
they were reviewing the court's opinion and considering all
options for further appeal.
Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts, said the
organization would continue to focus on serving local
communities. "We appreciate the court's thoughtful and
comprehensive analysis of this matter," Smith said.
The case in the 9th Circuit is Barnes-Wallace vs. Boy Scouts
of America, 04-56167.
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