Mirror of Justice

A blog dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Affiliated with the Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame Law School.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Freedom of association: Not just for Boy Scouts anymore . . .

By Rob Vischer

Some gay rights organizations have stood up for the right of associations to make their own membership decisions, even if not everyone approves of those decisions.  Hopefully more organizations will see the danger to group identity posed by the sweeping expansion and application of anti-discrimination norms, now that the focus is on the Gay Softball World Series, not the Boy Scouts. (HT: David Bernstein)

https://mirrorofjustice.blogs.com/mirrorofjustice/2010/04/freedom-of-association-not-just-for-boy-scouts-anymore-.html

Vischer, Rob | Permalink

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Initially I did research on the ministerial exception to anti-discrimination statutes which allowed religious institutions to discriminate when making hiring decisions. I'm not sure whether this principle can be applied widely, but it seems to me that many organizations should be allowed to discriminate when it comes to appointing leadership. Leaders of organizations and religious institutions inculcate values, and as such organizations which maybe shouldn't be allowed to discriminate on membership should at least be allowed to choose their leaders. I guess the Boy Scouts don't fall under this umbrella, but perhaps more secular organizations should.