revocation of membership

[Fat Old Guy]

It used to be, "better a dozen guilty men go free than one innocent man hang" but now we have "better to ruin the lives of a dozen innocent men . . . "

[kasane]

The canned letter from the scout executive read in part "we have received information that has compelled us to revoke the registration of your son (name) with the Boy Scouts of America." "We reserve the right to refuse registration whenever there is a concern that an individual may not meet the high standards of membership that the BSA seeks".

 

"If you wish to have this decision reviewed by a BSA regional review committtee, please write the regional director (region) within sixty days of the date of this letter, explaining your version of the facts supporting your claim that his registration should be granted."

 

The letter did not say what information was received by the BSA nor did the Scout executive say what the information was. The parents were stonewalled until after the regional review, when the Region finally said something on the case that allowed them find out about the allegations and what had transpired nearly 6 months earlier. Their first appeal in this process was done in "the blind" as it were. In essence, whatever you said my son did (which you won't tell me and I don't know), he didn't do.

 

 

The parents were told, in writing, by the scout executive that they can explain "their version of the facts" in an appeal letter, but were never told what those "facts" actually were. They asked and asked and were turned down at every level, until pressure and advice from a scout executive in another Council got the region to talk to them (only on a limited basis). How can you fight an invisible foe?

 

The scout executive (and at all BSA levels)would not provide any information, no matter how abstract, regarding membership standards, violations thereof, burden of proof required, etc. to the parents or to a commissioner.

 

I believe this goes beyond the role of the commissioner, as we are obviously not privy to all the procedures and policies of the BSA.