PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia must pay nearly $900,000 after a failed effort to evict the Boy Scouts of America over the Scouts’ ban on homosexuals, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The post-trial ruling is just the latest twist in a decade-long legal dispute over the Boy Scout oath, which requires members to be “morally straight.”
The two sides have sought a compromise that would let the local Boy Scouts chapter keep its rent-free, city-owned headquarters without violating the national Scout policy.
However, a tentative deal struck since the city lost a court case last year has fallen apart.
U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter therefore said the city must pay $877,000 for the Scouts’ legal fees.
The order is a setback for the financially strapped city.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 03/22/2012