Boy Scouts of America v. Dale

Summary

In the 1990s, the Boy Scouts of America sought to instill moral values in young men. But while James Dale was serving as an assistant scoutmaster, he also engaged in activism that contradicted the Boy Scouts’ moral values regarding sexuality and advocated for teenagers to have same-sex attracted role models.

The Boy Scouts revoked Dale’s membership because continuing to let him lead impressionable children would have contradicted the Boy Scouts’ moral beliefs and teaching against same-sex sexual conduct. But Dale filed a lawsuit accusing the Boy Scouts of illegally discriminating against him under New Jersey’s public accommodations law.

Alliance Defending Freedom funded amicus briefs in support of the Boy Scouts. And in 2000, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment prohibited New Jersey from forcing the Boy Scouts to impair the expression of its beliefs by maintaining Dale as a member or leader.