Boy Scouts of America v. Dale

Legal decision

By: Supreme Court of the United States

Date: June 8, 2000

Source: Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (99-699) 530 U.S. 640 (2000).

About the Author: The Supreme Court of the United States is the nation's highest court, with eight associate justices and one chief justice. The opinion in the Boy Scouts of America v. Dale case was delivered by Chief Justice William Renquist.

INTRODUCTION

The Boy Scouts of America was founded in 1910 as a not-for-profit organization with the expressed mission to, "prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law." The Scout Oath states, "On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight." The organization is broken into small troops, consisting of fifteen to thirty scouts and led by a scoutmaster and assistant scoutmaster, and approximately sixty-five percent of these troops are sponsored by religious entities. Much of the activities of the scouts is considered instructional in nature. As a result, the scoutmaster performs the role of teacher and role model to his scouts and is expected to exemplify the ideology found within the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Although the Boy Scouts of America does not posses an explicit anti-homosexual stance, the organization advises its Scoutmasters to "instruct sexual abstinence until marriage in accordance with the 'morally straight' provision of the Scout's Oath."

Since its inception, over ninety million boys have entered into the Boy Scouts of America and the organization currently maintains a membership over five million. James Dale was one such member. Dale began as a Cub Scout at age eight and then entered the Boy Scouts. Throughout his membership, he earned twenty-five merit badges, was elected to the society of honor campers—Order of the Arrow, and was awarded the Scout's highest honor of Eagle Scout. In 1989, Dale's application to become Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop seventy-three in Monmouth, New Jersey was accepted. However, sixteen months later, Dale's membership into the Boy Scouts was revoked. Dale's position as assistant scoutmaster coincided with his entry into college at Rutgers University. While at school, Dale began to openly identify himself as a homosexual and became the co-president of the Rutgers University Lesbian/Gay Alliance in 1990. On July 8, 1990, an interview with Dale along with his photograph accompanied an article in the Newark Star Ledger entitled, "Seminar Addresses Needs of Homosexual Teens." As a result of this article, Dale was dismissed from his leadership role within the Scouts.

Dale sued the Boy Scouts of America under New Jersey's …