Federal Investigation of Montgomery County's Scout Actions Announced
Falls Church, VA - The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has announced, in a letter to Public Advocate Executive Director Eugene Delgaudio, that they are pursuing the pro-family organization's federal complaint against Montgomery County. The complaint was filed as a result of Montgomery County's actions to begin charging the Boy Scouts of America for meeting room space as a punishment for their moral leadership criteria. Because of the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, that was recently signed into law, any discrimination against the Scouts for such reasons is illegal and will result in the jurisdiction's school district being striped of their federal funding, which totals $40 million in Montgomery County.
The announcement comes as Public Advocate prepares to launch a statewide series of 'Defend the Boy Scouts' town hall briefings from Wednesday to Friday of this week, aimed at educating citizens on local government attacks on the Boy Scouts of America because of their moral leadership criteria. Copies of the letter announcing the investigation will be available at the briefings.
The briefings will primarily focus on Montgomery County's recent action to begin charging scout troops hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to use public facilities, in order to punish the scouts for their moral requirements of both its members and leaders, the focus of the federal investigation.
Attendees that chose to assist with the government investigation will also be federally protected along with Public Advocate against any harassment or discrimination from Montgomery officials.
"Montgomery County officials have been given repeated chances to obey federal statute and reverse these fees to punish the Boy Scouts of America because of their moral virtues," stated Delgaudio. "Now that the federal government is investigating these abuses, hopefully the county will no longer be able to ignore the law of the land."
Public Advocate of the U.S. is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501.c.4 organization and is not affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America. Donations are not tax deductible.