In 1990 the Boy Scouts expelled James Dale, an Eagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster, after a newspaper reported he was gay, and in 2000 the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the organization could do so. The episode covers the dissent, related cases, and the funding losses that followed, then the 2013-2017 reversals. The Latter-day Saints left anyway, so the organization was vindicated and defunded at once.
Who's who
- James Dale+1 more episodeEagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster expelled in 1990
- William H. Rehnquist+1 more episodeChief Justice who wrote the Dale majority opinion
- John Paul Stevens+1 more episodeJustice who wrote the principal dissent in Dale
- Timothy CurranEagle Scout refused an adult position; plaintiff in Curran
Where it happens
- Rutgers University, New Jersey+2 more episodesWhere Dale was co-president of the Lesbian/Gay Alliance
- Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve, West VirginiaPrivate site where the National Jamboree moved in 2013
- Washington, D.C.+31 more episodesWhere the Supreme Court decided Dale on June 28, 2000
Timeline
- July 1990Dale's membership is revoked after a newspaper interview
- March 23, 1998Randall and Curran decided 7-0 on California's Unruh Act
- June 28, 2000Supreme Court decides Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 5-4
- May 23, 2013Youth membership opened by a 61%-38% vote
- July 27, 2015National Executive Board votes 45-12 to lift the adult-leader ban
- December 31, 2019Latter-day Saints cease sponsorship
Still debated
Sources differ on the size of the Latter-day Saint partnership, either over 30,000 units and about 13 percent of youth or roughly 425,000 youth and 18.5 percent. The funding-loss figures come from a single secondary compilation and no aggregate total exists.
Connected episodes in other series
Bush v. Gore to Dobbs: Is the Supreme Court Just Politics?The Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 11Also features William H. Rehnquist
Cabazon and the CardsThe Smallest Nations · Episode 7Also features John Paul Stevens
The Exclusion ActGold Mountain · Episode 7
Not a Base: The Memorandum Putting US Troops Back on Panama's BasesPanama: Crossroads of Empires · Episode 21