"California to review whether judges can be Boy Scouts"

Interesting. Certainly, an employer cannot limit an employee's participation in political or religious groups, but what about the Boy Scouts? Are they a social group, or something more? And, as you said, let's go deeper with this - can an employer limit one's participation in any group?

What if that group is Nambla? Or Al Qaeda (assuming you're a "nonviolent participant", which is what Zacarias Moussaoui claims to be)? Or the NRA? Or a golf club that doesn't admit women?

.....ggggrrrrrrr.......

Next thing they'll be telling them they can't celebrate Christmas because there's a separation between church and state.

What a person participates in on one's free time is one's own business. Meaning, stay out of my beeswax, jack.

Any person that holds public office, appointed or elected, can belong to any group they like. It is up to the people that put them there to decide whether or not their affiliations affect their posts. I suppose you could find a way to disqualify anyone.

Maybe if that kept up there'd be no one in public positions, and we'd all do a little soul searching, look in the mirror, and stop being so dam^ PC about everything to the point that you can't leave the house anymore without offending someone.


<.........gasping deep breath........>

I don't know if I even gave an answer but I certainly feel better.

I'm don't think, this will bother anybody, but with such a 'behaviour' California could never join the EU, since this would violate the Juridical Independence here.

While I think the Boy Scout functionaries have painted themselves into a corner on the gay and atheist issue, it also seems to me that the California Supreme Court may have overstepped the bounds on this one. If people object to a judge's affiliations--be it with the Scouts, the KKK or the ACLU--they can vote for the other candidate the next time around...

I guess maybe they're just trying to make a point?

Precisly my point Jes!

Sugar! There is an exception in the CA Cannon that exempts all "religous affiliations" but you did, I believe, address the question quite well!

Walter - I'm not sure exactly which way to read your response. Do you mean the EU wouldn't accept it because the judges are being "controlled" to an extent or because judges are allowed to be in groups that discriminate? Do EU member nations have a "Code of Conduct" of some sort for Judges? (I really need to look at European law more!)

D'artagnan - Very close to my own thoughts. They already have other prohibitions and the Scouts would just be one more. Where, oh where will it stop? Nobody knows...

Ah! lil k, you snuck in there while I was composing.

Yes, I do believe they are trying to make one. While I agree with what I think may be their motives I'm not sure I want that point made to the extent that my employer can determine my activities outside of the workplace. What if my employer is an extreme animal rights activist and decides I shouldn't be allowed to work at my job any longer if I buy a fishing license because fishing is cruel? I'd be in BIIGGG trouble!

i may be missing the point on this but if as i understand it the BSA OFFICIALLY discriminates against gays/atheists and therefore Judges might be in conflict with statutory regulations regarding equal rights it would not seem unreasonable to require judges to not join/uphold any such organization. But again i am sure that i actually understand this issue.

I agree with dyslexia - judges are supposed to be impartial. And while not all boy scouts will be homophobic christians, they were very staunch in their policy.

fishin

Judges in Germany (and in Europe as well) can do privately what they want - with the restriction that all is legal to the national constitution (and lawfull).

So we have judges, which are extremely against homosexuals (the most prominant isn't practising in the moment, but a right-wing conservative State minister of the interior in Hamburg) or gay (some federal judges and federal prosecutors are).

They need to leave the Scout's alone. I was a scout and look how I turned out. er, hmm, ah, maybe that's not a good example. Just forget I said anything.

You know, its things like this that seem small or not so bad although certainly cause for some concern and they roll into bigger, larger, more wide spread ignorance/lack of privacy/etc etc etc...stupid stuff in fact. All it does in the end is back up the legal system and have mr. john doe win some big battle over something that was stupid to begin with.
I just cant believe it. Well, I can, however I'd rather not if I dont have to.
I second the arrrghh.
Next thing ya know our employers will be telling us where we can live, what car we can drive, what we can do on Monday-Friday evenings, etc. Its just not right.
Dont we all have a job to do, and arent we supposed to do that job well or...oh, um..get fired? I dont know...this just seems to be a bit too much. What exactly are they saying about Judges and who/what they should be privately/personally?
What were they thinking?????

Well, employers already tell us a bit of what we can do on a Monday - Friday night by the use of random drug testing.

dyslexia - I think you got the point quite well! I believe that is exactlty the issue they are trying to cover. My question back to them though is "Why not ALL organizations?" They don't have a prohibition on them being members of the PGA (which only allows men) or the LPGA (which only admits women). There is no prohibition on being residents of the state of CA (which officially discriiminates against G/L/B/Ts). There are no prohibitions on the judges religious affiliation of which many have views/policies which discriminate against gays.

But.. How far should the concerns about a judges impartiality extend? The canons already say that all judges are barred from being members in groups that discriminate in violation of the law. The lawyers that proposed this prohibition on the Boy Scouts are pushing their own agenda over the top of the fact that the Boy Scouts are well within the law.

If a case came before a judge who was known to be a BS member/supporter, could his affiliation possibly be used as grounds for a later appeal?

I think the Boy Scouts "get away" with their anti-gay, pro-God rules because they're a private organization. Same as the Augusta golf guys with their no-girls-allowed rule. Which is not to say people can't protest against such organizations. And they do!