On July 31, a federal judge ruled the Boy Scouts’ land lease in Balboa Park unconstitutional. “It is clear that the Boy Scouts of America’s strongly held private, discriminatory beliefs are at odds with values requiring tolerance and inclusion in the public realm,” U.S. District Judge Napoleon Jones Jr. wrote in his summary judgment, finding the city of San Diego’s lease with the Boy Scouts of America in violation of the California State Constitution and the first amendment of the United States Constitution.

The Scouts established Camp Balboa shortly after World War II and in 1957 they signed a 50-year lease with the city for a sweetheart deal of $1 per year. The Scouts pushed for an early extension on the lease, and in a 6-3 vote in December of 2001, the city agreed to extend the lease for another 25 years with an option for an additional 15 years — despite the pending lawsuit against the city.

Jones said in his decision that the lease extension was the result of exclusive negotiations that implied the city’s endorsement of the Scouts’ “inherently religious programs and practices.”

“It’s so clear,” said M.E. Stephens, who is on the trial team representing the ACLU, in response to the ruling. “He hits the key issues in such a compelling and concise way at the beginning of the opinion. He couldn’t have said it any better. It’s eloquent, it’s concise, it’s to the point; it captures the critical notions about the city not having the right or the ability to do business with a discriminatory organization.”

Councilmembers immediately received a memo from the office of City Attorney Casey Gwinn July 31 in regard to the judge’s decision. A meeting with the council was scheduled for a closed-door session on Tuesday, Aug. 5. The informational meeting, which was postponed due to negotiations with the Chargers, would have been to brief councilmembers on what the ruling means to the city, although no immediate action item was scheduled.

“I personally am very pleased,” Councilmember Toni Atkins said upon hearing news of the judge’s decision. “I voted the way I voted on Dec. 4 because I believe the city’s position was not in the following of our human dignity ordinance, and now that Judge Jones has ruled that the city’s Balboa Park lease to the Boy Scouts is unconstitutional, I really think it’s time for the city to get on the right side of this discussion and certainly to abolish discrimination wherever they can.”

The Gay and Lesbian Times placed calls to each of the city councilmembers’ offices to get their personal reactions to the ruling. District 7 representative Jim Madaffer’s office responded by directing all questions to the city attorney’s office. Madaffer was one of the six councilmembers who voted to extend the lease.

City Attorney Casey Gwinn, who provided the city council with legal advice and justification for approving the lease, is currently out of the country and was not available for comment on the ruling.

“I will be interested, in light of this ruling, to see what the city attorney’s recommendations or options are,” said Atkins.

According to the city attorney’s office, no action will be taken on the ruling until September.

“What we want the city to do is, now do the right thing,” Stephens told the Times. “The former city council couldn’t seem to find its way to constitutionality, and we hope the current city council can do that. They can very simply line up on the right side of this case and end their alliance with the Boy Scouts in litigation.”

George Davidson, legal council for the Scouts, who has represented the organization before the U.S. Supreme Court, said his client was undecided on its next legal maneuver but an appeal is expected.

“There’s been at least 10 times where we’ve lost along the way,” Davidson told the Associated Press. “This is a step in the process and, if history is a guide, we will pursue all appellate remedies. The last word has yet to be heard.”

There is also the remaining question over the validity of the city’s lease of land on Fiesta Island to the Scouts. Judge Jones ruled that he needed additional factual information about that lease and has ordered a trial on that issue. In the meantime, the city will have to decide whether it will appeal the court’s decision on the Balboa Park lease. Most likely the city attorney will advise the council whether to stay on the side of the Scouts and defend the litigation.

“The city would only do that if the city wanted to,” Stephens said, explaining that the council could simply vote to terminate all of the leases. “That’s essentially what we are telling them. Don’t spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars defending what the court has so clearly defined as the Boy Scouts’ bigotry.”