Appeal rejected in Mt. Pleasant case to bar Boy Scout recruiters
May 31, 2006
BY GINA HOLLAND

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal Tuesday from a man who is an atheist over Boy Scout recruiting at his son's public school in Mt. Pleasant.

John Scalise, a former city commissioner, had asked the court to bar public schools from opening their doors to Boy Scout recruiters and promoting membership.

He argued that the group discriminates against nonreligious boys and parents by denying them membership if they don't swear to religious oaths.

Scalise's dispute with the Scouts dates to 1998, when his son was a third-grader at Fancher Elementary. He claims he and his son were barred from a Scout program at the school because they would not pledge "to do my duty to God and my country."

The Scalises are nonreligious Humanists. the rest