Sheriff’s Department to Retain Ties With Scouts

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department will continue to conduct youth training programs with the Boy Scouts of America despite a decision earlier this week by the San Diego Police Department to sever ties with the organization because of its national policy that discriminates against gays.

Sheriff Jim Roache announced Thursday that his department’s Explorer Scout program requires no change and that, until a legal mandate or an unspecified “controversy” requires otherwise, the program will remain intact.

“I do not wish to disband it when there is no controversy,” Roache said. “If and when a controversy actually arises and there is something actually at issue, not theoretically at issue, I will make that decision. Hopefully that won’t arise.”

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department in the Bay Area has terminated the Boy Scouts’ contract to run an Explorer program, and two school Scouting programs, in San Francisco and San Jose, have been terminated because of the Scouts’ policy of excluding gays.

Roache’s announcement came three days after San Diego Police Chief Bob Burgreen severed his department’s ties with the Boy Scouts of America because the group suspended El Cajon Police Officer Charles Merino, who served as an adviser to the Explorer Scouts. Merino received the suspension notice from the Scouts in late August after disclosing that he is gay.

Merino has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Boy Scouts, said Ronald Brundage, spokesman for the San Diego Boy Scouts Council. If no appeal is made, the Boy Scouts will call for the El Cajon department to replace Merino in the post. The program will be dormant until a replacement is named, Brundage said.

El Cajon Police Chief Jack Smith said the department has not considered replacing Merino and has “put aside” the Explorer program. Although the department is not seeking an official break from the Scouts, there are no plans to revive the program, Smith said.

“We know where the Boy Scouts stand,” he said. “And we know we have incompatible policies. We can both continue trying to make the community better, but it’s better that it be done on separate tracks.”

San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory said Wednesday that the city has no immediate intention of terminating its lease agreements with the local Boy Scouts Council until there is a legal challenge under the city’s Human Dignity Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The Boy Scouts have been sued in several cities for discriminating against gay members and troop leaders. The legal cases include a 1983 victory for the Boy Scouts in Los Angeles.

In Curran vs. the Boy Scouts of America, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that the Boy Scouts were not a public entity and were entitled to the constitutionally guaranteed privileges of a private business, including freedom of association. The right to exclude gay members and troop leaders is protected under the Constitution’s First Amendment, the court ruled.

The case is currently being tried in the state appellate court in Los Angeles, according to a memo issued by the San Diego city attorney’s office.

San Diego County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Dan Greenblat said Burgreen’s actions Monday should not be expected to apply to other law enforcement agencies.

“Just because one jurisdiction chooses to make a statement doesn’t mean everyone in the community has to follow in lockstep,” Greenblat said.

David Rubin, a deputy district attorney and spokesman for a gay and lesbian coalition of law officers, said the sheriff’s decision was disappointing.

“Even if you take the position that the sheriffs are doing nothing wrong according to the letter of the law, you have to recognize that the Scouts’ policy excludes gays and lesbians,” Rubin said. “And it is immoral to align one’s self with an institution that is blatantly practicing discrimination.

“We believe eventually the debate on the policy will go the direction of ‘this is wrong and the law says so,’ ” Rubin said. “At that time, I am confident the Sheriff’s Department will re-evaluate its position.”