Jun 23, 2010
Jury Says Philadelphia’s Eviction of Boy Scouts Violates First Amendment
A federal jury on Wednesday declared that the city of Philadelphia had violated the First Amendment rights of the local chapter of the Boy Scouts of America by moving to evict it from its city-owned headquarters if it refused to repudiate the anti-gay policies of the Scouts’ national parent group. However, the jury rejected the Scouts’ claim that the city had engaged in “viewpoint” discrimination and also rejected an Equal Protection claim by finding that the city had a rational basis for its actions.