Boy Scouts of America Considers Bankruptcy Filing Amid Sex-Abuse Lawsuits

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

PRO BANKRUPTCY BANKRUPTCY

Boy Scouts of America Considers Bankruptcy Filing Amid Sex-Abuse Lawsuits

Nonprofit has hired law firm Sidley Austin for assistance in a possible chapter 11 bankruptcy filing

By Katy Stech Ferek
Updated Dec. 12, 2018 5:42 p.m. ET

The Boy Scouts of America is considering filing for bankruptcy protection as it faces dwindling membership and escalating legal costs related to lawsuits over how it handled allegations of sex abuse.

Leaders of the Boy Scouts, one of the country’s largest youth organizations, have hired law firm Sidley Austin LLP for assistance with a possible chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter.

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Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/boy-scouts-of-america-considers-bankruptcy-filing-amid-sex-abuse-lawsuits-11544649657

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Everything Trump touches....

[msongs]

1. will they soon have a bankruptcy merit badge? hmmm nt

[mahannah]

5. just stupid

[BigmanPigman]

2. How does the Catholic Church pay for their similar lawsuits?

Oh yeah, I forgot...they are loaded and don't pay taxes.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

3. Good!!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Because? NT

[stopbush]

6. Good riddance.

Fucking gay- and atheist-hating assholes.

[Dawson Leery]

7. During their annual Xmas wreathe sale, I only saw the parents at their stand.

When the Girl Scouts have their cookie sale, the girls are always at the table.

[ToxMarz]

8. Maybe that's why they want to allow the Girl Scouts to "merge" with them

- Good will
- Spread the taint
- Ask: "Do you want to kill us both?"
- Steal whatever funds the Girls Scouts have to help pay their judgments

I'm sure there is more, but whatever it is, it isn't benevolent or genuine.

[lastlib]

13. No--they're not merging with the Girl Scouts

No way, shape, or form.

They are inviting girls to join their programs.The Girl Scouts (GSA) have nothing comparable to what the BSA offers youth.

[Liberty Belle]

9. Scouts has done many good things for boys (and now they are complying with the law)

My son became an Eagle Scout before all the controversy over gay issues. Amid all the bad press over that, many people may not know the great things Scouts did for young boys.

My son learned self sufficiency with many skills - how to build things, fix a leaking faucet or rewire a broken electrical outlet.

He built a shade shelter for a local public lake for his Eagle Scout project.

He did service for his community.

He learned camping and survival skills. He learned to swim, boat, fish, cook and even bake a cake over a camp stove.

He was taught the importance of values such as honesty, integrity and kindness.

He made life-long friendships, too.

Now that the Scouts are complying with the laws, and have admitting gay scouts and scoutmasters, I hope that they will survive this and go on to help future generations of boys and young men.

My husband was also a scout leader, and mentored many scouts who didn't come from privileged backgrounds. It's always been an affordable place for boys to belong and learn important life skills.

[Gore1FL]

10. Exactly.

I made Eagle and attended JLTC as a Youth. I trained adult leaders and went through Wood Badge as an adult. The underlying benefits of Scouting is incredible. The organization has had some backward ideas due to the ties it made with the LDS. Now that that is broken, if it can recover, it will be free to strive for the real values.

Despite the national rules, I was in attendance for more than one Eagle Scout Court of Honor for a gay scout. The rules now match the reality. I have been in attendance of more than one Eagle Scout Court of Honor for atheist recipients. I expect the religion rules to change, too; no doubt it will be accompanied by the usual kicking and screaming.

ITWBS

[cemaphonic]

11. I don't know about them coming around on religion anytime soon.

A lot of the secular, and more liberal religious groups (especially the Jewish and Unitarian) chapters left during the homophobic debacle, leaving the remaining membership about 75% Mormon or Catholic. A lot of the current membership, and especially the national level leadership sees Scouts as a last redoubt of Christian culture, and have actually made the religious requirements for advancement more prominent in the last few years. IMO, the Mormons leaving is more likely to push them into a membership death spiral than it is to open their ranks to secular members.

And yeah, if you live in the right area and find a sympathetic group, you can fly under the radar, just as gay scouts could earlier. But my son gave it a shot as an atheist, and decided that he could not fulfill the "Duty to God" requirement honestly and with integrity, even though his Scoutmaster was willing to be fairly flexible. Also, the current manual has some pretty strong language about religion being a necessary component of being a good person, so he felt like the organization as a whole was pretty dismissive and disrespectful of his values.

It was disappointing. I was in Scouts in the 80s. and my troop stressed the environmental, civic engagement and leadership values, and didn't promote the religious or paramilitary aspects at all.

[Liberty Belle]

14. Maybe a secular alternative version can come forth someday that would have all the best attributes

but be more inclusive; maybe teaching respect for all religions.

The worst of all worlds would be to have it all go away, since it has benefitted so many kids through the years.

[nitpicker]

12. Link to The Hill

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/421148-boy-scouts-considering-filing-for-bankruptcy-after-sex-abuse

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has reportedly hired a Washington D.C.-based law firm to help the organization navigate potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The Wall Street Journal reports that the organization has hired law firm Sidley Austin to navigate possible Chapter 11 filings, though no official announcement has been made ye

The Journal points to the organization's recent court defeats including a $18.5 million payout in 2010 to a Scout who came forward with allegations of sexual abuse dating back to the 1980s as a key reason for financial troubles in BSA, while the Scouts are also facing declining membership numbers.

In a statement on the Scouts' website, Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh wrote that the group was "working with experts to explore all options" to ensure the Scouts' programs continued "uninterrupted."

"We care deeply about all victims of child sex abuse and we are steadfast in our belief that one incident of child abuse is one too many. We sincerely apologize to anyone who was harmed during their time in our programs," Surbaugh wrote.

"To do so in perpetuity, we are working with experts to explore all options available to ensure that the local and national programming of the Boy Scouts of America continues uninterrupted. We have a social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in Scouting, and we also have an obligation to carry out our mission to serve youth, families and local communities through our programs," he continued.
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