ArchivedCity Settles With ACLU Over Boy Scout Lawsuitwww.thesandiegochannel.com/news/2751295/detail.html
City Settles With ACLU Over Boy Scout Lawsuit
City To Pay $950,000 In Legal Fees, Court Costs
POSTED: 1:03 PM PST January 8, 2004
UPDATED: 3:18 PM PST January 8, 2004
SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego City Council agreed to settle with the American Civil Liberties Union over a 2000 lawsuit challenging the city's lease to the Desert Pacific Boy Scout Council.
The union sued the city and the Boy Scouts over a Balboa Park lease, claiming the Scouts discrimination against gays disqualified the organization from leasing prime city land.
"San Diego has finally taken itself out of the business of endorsing the exclusion of many of its residents from their own city parks. While, it is unfortunate that it has taken an adverse court ruling to get the city on the right side of this issue, the end result is a victory for every San Diegan who cares about tolerance and equality," said ACLU legal director Jordan Budd.
Under the agreement, the city will now take no position on the validity of the leases in future legal proceedings.
The Boy Scouts, however, can continue to fight the ACLU's legal claims, and retain possession of the Balboa Park and Fiesta Island properties during litigation.
The city will also pay the $950,000 in legal fees and court costs incurred during the last three years of litigation, but will have no responsibility to any costs incurred in the future.
The Desert Pacific Council released a statement Thursday in response the city's settlement:
"Boy Scouts are disappointed that the City is settling with Plaintiffs so quickly, rather than defending the leases-and the Constitution-in Court as the Boy Scouts are doing. Boy Scouts are also staggered by the amount of the settlement, which provides funding to the ACLU lawyers to continue their attack on the Boy Scouts. That amount would have gone a long way toward reimbursing the Boy Scouts for the tremendous investment they have made in the two properties over the years. Instead, the City leaves the Boy Scouts to fight the ACLU by themselves."
The city had given the Scouts nearly 70 years of exclusive use of 18 acres of prime park property in city-owned Balboa Park for $1 per year and free use of an aquatic facility on city-owned Fiesta Island in Mission Bay through preferential leases.
The union sued the city and the Boy Scouts over a Balboa Park lease, claiming the Scouts discrimination against gays disqualified the organization from leasing prime city land.
"San Diego has finally taken itself out of the business of endorsing the exclusion of many of its residents from their own city parks. While, it is unfortunate that it has taken an adverse court ruling to get the city on the right side of this issue, the end result is a victory for every San Diegan who cares about tolerance and equality," said ACLU legal director Jordan Budd.
This statement rings hollow, when I think of the discrimination the ACLU has subjected religious groups to. (Well, religious groups other than Islamic ones.)
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