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The Boy Scouts of America has a congressional charter. They are not a run-of-the-mill private organization. Their discrimination is unacceptable as a publicly-c

The Boy Scouts of America has a congressional charter. They are not a run-of-the-mill private organization. Their discrimination is unacceptable as a publicly-chartered organization.

zamadatix 8y ago
Does that mean anything or is it just honorific like most recognition of groups from the government? I think it's quite well established the Boy Scouts of America are a well recognized group regardless of this so I don't see how this is what makes them non run-of-the-mill.
- EvanAnderson 8y ago
  The Boy Scouts have used the trademark rights granted by their federal charter to bully other organizations to change their names. In a trademark dispute it would be necessary for a claimant to demonstrate that there is a likelihood of confusion between their mark and the allegedly infringing mark. The BSA has claimed that their federal charter allows them to be exempt from that requirement and, in the 2008 Wrenn vs. BSA decision the court affirmed that claim, stating "The Court agrees with the BSA that it need not demonstrate the likelihood of confusion because it has been granted special protection by Congressional charter." That is sufficient demonstration, to me, that they derive value from their federal charter above and beyond it simply being an honorific.
brobdingnagians 8y ago
One of the problems with our society is that the government has it's hand and it's funding in almost everything. I don't think public institutions should take sides, which means they should get out of interfering with private institutions. If the government didn't take a large percentage of our money to hand out to organizations we disagree with, then maybe we could support the things we do agree with. I wish they didn't have a congressional charter, maybe then they'd be more independent.
- EvanAnderson 8y ago
  Your libertarian-leaning sentiments don't change the facts. The Boy Scouts of America have a congressional charter. They've used that charter to bully other programs into changing their names (evidence "Youthscouts"[1] or "Hacker Scouts"[2]). If they're going to use the imprimatur of the United States Congress to their advantage then it follows, to me, that they aren't a run-of-the-mill private organization and should be bound by the Constitution in the same way as other public entities. (Their discrimination against atheists, for example, is directly in conflict with the first amendment and, to my mind, unconscionable.) I'm glad to see the Girl Scouts (also federally chartered) going after them. The Girl Scouts have a much better track record of being a good actor when it comes to discrimination and acting like the public entity that they are. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrenn_v._Boy_Scouts_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrenn_v._Boy_Scouts_of_America [2] - https://web.archive.org/web/20130821172216/http://hacker-scouts.org/blog/hacker-scouts-and-bsa https://web.archive.org/web/20130821172216/http://hacker-sco...
EvanAnderson 8y ago
BTW: If you find this kind of thing interesting there's some really engaging analysis here: https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/64622/OSLJ_V53N5_1385.pdf https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/64622/OSLJ_V53N5_13...

The Boy Scouts of America has a congressional charter. They are not a run-of-the-mill private organization. Their discrimination is unacceptable as a publicly-chartered organization.

zamadatix 8y ago

Does that mean anything or is it just honorific like most recognition of groups from the government? I think it's quite well established the Boy Scouts of America are a well recognized group regardless of this so I don't see how this is what makes them non run-of-the-mill.

EvanAnderson 8y ago
The Boy Scouts have used the trademark rights granted by their federal charter to bully other organizations to change their names. In a trademark dispute it would be necessary for a claimant to demonstrate that there is a likelihood of confusion between their mark and the allegedly infringing mark. The BSA has claimed that their federal charter allows them to be exempt from that requirement and, in the 2008 Wrenn vs. BSA decision the court affirmed that claim, stating "The Court agrees with the BSA that it need not demonstrate the likelihood of confusion because it has been granted special protection by Congressional charter." That is sufficient demonstration, to me, that they derive value from their federal charter above and beyond it simply being an honorific.

brobdingnagians 8y ago

One of the problems with our society is that the government has it's hand and it's funding in almost everything. I don't think public institutions should take sides, which means they should get out of interfering with private institutions. If the government didn't take a large percentage of our money to hand out to organizations we disagree with, then maybe we could support the things we do agree with. I wish they didn't have a congressional charter, maybe then they'd be more independent.

EvanAnderson 8y ago
Your libertarian-leaning sentiments don't change the facts. The Boy Scouts of America have a congressional charter. They've used that charter to bully other programs into changing their names (evidence "Youthscouts"[1] or "Hacker Scouts"[2]). If they're going to use the imprimatur of the United States Congress to their advantage then it follows, to me, that they aren't a run-of-the-mill private organization and should be bound by the Constitution in the same way as other public entities. (Their discrimination against atheists, for example, is directly in conflict with the first amendment and, to my mind, unconscionable.) I'm glad to see the Girl Scouts (also federally chartered) going after them. The Girl Scouts have a much better track record of being a good actor when it comes to discrimination and acting like the public entity that they are. [1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrenn_v._Boy_Scouts_of_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrenn_v._Boy_Scouts_of_America [2] - https://web.archive.org/web/20130821172216/http://hacker-scouts.org/blog/hacker-scouts-and-bsa https://web.archive.org/web/20130821172216/http://hacker-sco...

EvanAnderson 8y ago

BTW: If you find this kind of thing interesting there's some really engaging analysis here: https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/64622/OSLJ_V53N5_1385.pdf https://kb.osu.edu/bitstream/handle/1811/64622/OSLJ_V53N5_13...