Boy Scouts hit with major new scandal
Stunning new rules
aimed at discrimination against homosexual adults
California state judges have been banned from working with
youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts that
practice “invidious” discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The Supreme Court of
California said it adopted the recommendations of its Advisory
Committee after public comment on the issue.
The policy change removes an exception to the ban for judges
to participate with such youth organizations.
“The only remaining exception to the general rule is
membership in a religious organization,” Judge Richard D. Fybel, chairman of
the committee and a member of the Fourth District Court of Appeals, said in the
announcement. “One other exception – belonging to a military organization – was
eliminated as well, because the U.S. armed forces no longer restrict military
service based on sexual orientation.”
The Boy Scouts declined to respond to WND requests for
comment.
In 2012, the National Council of the
Boy Scouts of America revised its century-old policy to allow “open
and avowed” homosexuals to join its programs. The move was made despite a U.S.
Supreme Court ruling that, as a private organization, it could restrict its
memberships.
The compromise didn’t satisfy either side of the debate,
allowing openly homosexual scouts while banning openly homosexual leaders.
“Gay”-rights activists demanded more, and many churches that
had sponsored troops for years dropped out of the program, sending membership
down 6 percent in the first year after the decision.
The judiciary in California, through the media office at the
state Supreme Court, also declined to respond to WND requests for comment.
The ban on participation in groups that “discriminate” dates
to the mid-1990s, but the exceptions for youth and religious organizations had
been maintained until the change.
The Boy Scouts were not identified specifically in the court’s document, because the rule-change pertains to all “youth organizations.” But because of the high profile of its recent fight over homosexuality, the move is seen as a direct ban on participation with the Scouts.
The new ethical guideline reads: “A judge shall not hold
membership in any organization that practices invidious discrimination on the
basis of race, sex, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual
orientation.”
Previously, the rules said: “This canon does not apply to
membership in a religious organization or an official military organization of
the United States. So long as membership does not violate Canon 4A, this canon
does not bar membership in a nonprofit youth organization.”
The committee changed the text to read: “This canon does not
apply to membership in a religious organization.”
California’s highest-profile decision
regarding homosexuality was made by a federal judge, Vaughn Walker, who ruled
the voter-approved Proposition 8 that defined marriage as the union of one man and
one woman was unconstitutional, even while visiting “gay” bars and
attending social events with his male partner.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, he was quoted in a
book about the issue saying, “African American judges hear race discrimination
cases all the time, while female judges hear cases charging gender bias. … Why
wouldn’t a gay man hear the challenge to Prop 8?”
In commentary offered by the advisory committee to the
judges, members said, “The code prohibits such membership by judges to preserve
the fairness, impartiality, independence, and honor of the judiciary, to treat
all parties equally under the law, and to avoid impropriety and the appearance
of impropriety.”
The committee said that previously, Canon 2C “contained
exceptions to this prohibition for membership in religious organizations,
membership in an official military organization of the United States and, so
long as membership did not violate Canon 4A, membership in a nonprofit youth
organization.”
“The exceptions for membership in an official military
organization of the United States and nonprofit youth organizations have been
eliminated as exceptions to the canon.”
The committee report said an organization is “generally said
to discriminate invidiously if it arbitrarily excludes from membership on the
basis of race, religion, sex, gender, national origin, ethnicity, or sexual
orientation persons who would otherwise be admitted to membership.”
The judges have been given until Jan. 21, 2016, to make sure
their statements, activities and participation in organizations comply.
“The proposed rule change was sent out for public comment
last year, and the change was supported by the California Judges Association.
The amended rule is now consistent with the American Bar Association’s Model
Code of Judicial Conduct,” the Supreme Court said.
The rules apply to “state judges on and off the bench and
for candidates for judicial officer.” The advisory committee recommended no
other substantive changes to the rules that address what a judge may say about
a case, to whom he may say it and how investigations of misbehavior are
handled.
Meanwhile, AP is reporting
the beginning of arguments over a lawsuit brought against the Scouts. A boy, 13
at the time, allegedly was sexually abused by an adult volunteer with the
organization.
The case is precedent-setting because the plaintiff’s
attorney has, according to AP, “won the right to draw from more than 30 years
of ‘perversion’ files kept by the Scouts.”
Fourth District Court of Appeals
Michael F. Bennet
was a clerk for the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 4th Circuit, a national co-chair for the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign,
and is married to Susan D. Daggett.
Note:
Susan D.
Daggett is married to Michael F.
Bennet, and was an attorney for the Natural
Resources Defense Council.
Wendy Schmidt is
a trustee at the Natural Resources
Defense Council, and was a major opponent of California Proposition 23.
California
Proposition 23
A NO vote on this measure means: The state could continue to
implement the measures authorized under Assembly Bill 32 to address global warming.
A YES vote on this measure means: Certain existing and proposed
regulations authorized under state law ("Assembly Bill 32") to
address global warming would be suspended. These regulations would remain
suspended until the state unemployment rate drops to 5.5 percent or lower for
one year.
Natural
Resources Defense Council was a major opponent of California Proposition 23.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Natural Resources Defense Council, the International Rescue Committee, the Climate Reality Project, and the Committee for Economic Development.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
International
Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE
Campaign.
Michelle Obama is
an advocate for the ONE Campaign.
L. John Doerr is a
director at the ONE Campaign, a general
partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers, and was a major opponent of California Proposition 23.
Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers was a donor for The Climate Project.
The Climate
Project is a merged organization with the Climate Reality Project.
Albert A. Gore Jr.
was a donor for The Climate Project,
is the chairman for the Climate Reality
Project, and a partner at Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers.
William R.
Hearst III is a partner emeritus for Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers, the chairman for the Hearst Corporation, and was the editor and publisher for the San Francisco Examiner.
Hearst Newspapers
is a division of the Hearst Corporation.
San
Francisco Chronicle is a publication for the Hearst Newspapers.
Colin L. Powell is
a strategic adviser for Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers, and an overseer at the International Rescue Committee.
John C. Whitehead
is an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, and a co-chairman for the Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts.
Clifford S.
Asness is a director at the International
Rescue Committee, and supported same-sex
marriage in New York.
Proposition 8
would have eliminated same-sex marriage
in California.
Paul D. Clement
was an attorney for House Republicans opposing same-sex marriage, and an attorney for states opposing Obamacare.
Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
CGI Group Inc.
was the Obamacare contractor that
developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Barbara G. Fast
was a VP for the CGI Group Inc, and a VP at the Boeing Company.
Donna S. Morea
was the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.,
and a trustee at the Committee for
Economic Development.
Earl G. Graves is a
trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and an officer for the Boy
Scouts of America.
James S. Turley is
a trustee at the Committee for Economic
Development, and a national executive board member, officer for the Boy Scouts of America.
Philip M. Condit
is a national executive board member for the Boy Scouts of America, and was the chairman & CEO for the Boeing Company.
W. James McNerney
Jr. is the chairman & president & CEO for the Boeing Company,
and a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago.
Commercial Club of
Chicago, Members Directory A-Z (Past Research)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Edward M. Liddy is
a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, a director at the Boeing
Company, and a board of governors life member for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Kathleen L. Brown
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, the California state
government governor Jerry Brown’s sister, and was the treasurer for
the California state government.
R. Eden Martin is
the president of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Newton N. Minow
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an
intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and his
maternal grandmother was Madelyn Payne
Dunham.
Madelyn Payne
Dunham was Barack Obama’s maternal grandmother, and an aircraft inspector
for the Boeing Company.
Michelle Obama
was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP,
and is an an advocate for the ONE
Campaign.
International
Rescue Committee is a partner with the ONE
Campaign.
John C. Whitehead
is an overseer at the International
Rescue Committee, and a co-chairman for the Greater New York Councils of the Boy Scouts.
Clifford S.
Asness is a director at the International
Rescue Committee, and supported same-sex
marriage in New York.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the International Rescue Committee, and
the Natural Resources Defense Council.
George Soros
was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Susan D. Daggett
was an attorney for the Natural
Resources Defense Council, and is married to Michael F. Bennet.
Michael F. Bennet
is married to Susan D. Daggett, was a national co-chair for the 2012 Barack Obama presidential campaign,
and a clerk for the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 4th Circuit.
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