United States Court of Appeals-7th Circuit (May 17, 1993) rendered its opinion in the case of Walsh v. Boy Scouts of America. In 1989, Elliott Walsh of Hinsdale, an agnostic, had sued the Boy Scouts on behalf of his 10-year-old son, Mark, claiming religious discrimination against the West Suburban Council Tiger Cub Scout chapter. The Court ruled that the Boy Scouts could keep the phrase "duty to God" in their oath, and as a private organization they had the right to exclude anyone who refused to take the oath.
Judge John Coffey, in delivering the 2-1 majority opinion, stated the Boy Scouts did not violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act, as scouting was an activity and not a facility, a membership organization, rather than a "place of public accommodation":
<The leadership of many in our government is a testimonial to the success of Boy Scout activities....In recent years, single-parent families, gang activity, the availability of drugs and other factors have increased the dire need for support structures like the Scouts.
When the government, in this instance, through the courts, seeks to regulate the membership of an organization like the Boy Scouts in a way that scuttles its founding principles, we run the risk of undermining one of the seedbeds of virtue that cultivate the sorts of citizens our nation so desperately needs.> 1993US003
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
1993US003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). United States Court of Appeals-7th Circuit, May 17, 1993. Walsh v. Boy Scouts of America. USA Today, May 19, 1993. National Reports (Reston, VA: Intercessors For America, July/August 1993), Vol. 20, No.7/8, p. 8. Appeals Court Panel Rules Boy Scouts Can Exclude Atheists (Chicago: United Press International, May 18, 1993). News Reporter (White Springs, FL: People's Network, Inc., May 31, 1993), Vol. II, No. 9, p. 4. Appeals Court Panel Rules Boy Scouts Can Exclude Atheists (Chicago: United Press International, May 18, 1993).