Parents Plan To Appeal Boy Scout's Rejection
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
November 21, 2006

PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA--The parents of a 13-year-old with Asperger syndrome said they plan to appeal a ruling in which their lawsuit against a Boy Scout troop and council was rejected.

Jane Dubovy and Mike Reilly claimed in their suit that Scout leaders with Troop 223 and the Western Los Angeles County Council of Boy Scouts of America violated the Americans with Disabilities Act and state laws when they kept Casey Reilly out of scouting activities and from advancing in rank.

The parents filed the suit after Scout leaders told them that Casey could only attend a weeklong rite of passage if his father came along to supervise him. The parents said the requirement was one of several conditions that had made the scouting experience difficult for their son and other students with disabilities during Casey's four years in the Boy Scouts.

Judge S. James Otero rejected the parents' argument that Boy Scouts of America cannot exclude boys with disabilities because its membership is open to all other boys. Otero said the organization is not an 'open' organization, and explained that it already excludes homosexuals and atheists, and therefore does not have to follow the ADA.

The parents' lawyer told the Palisadian Post that Judge Otero 'misapplied' the ADA and 'went beyond what he is authorized to do.'

Related:
Boy Scout Suit Dismissed; Appeal Planned (Palisadian Post)

---

Reproduced here under special arrangement with Inclusion Daily Express international disability rights news service.
© Copyright 2006 Inonit Publishing. Please do not reprint, publish or distribute without permission.