Editing Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (section)

==Background==
[[File:HeadshotJDMSM19.jpg|left|thumb|Scoutmaster [[James Dale (activist)|James Dale]]]]
The Boy Scouts of America is a private, non-profit organization engaged in instilling its system of values in young people. At the time of the case, it asserted that [[Boy Scouts of America membership controversies#Position on homosexuality|homosexuality]] was inconsistent with those values.<ref name="NY Times"/>

When Dale was a student at [[Rutgers University]], he became co-president of the Lesbian/Gay student alliance. In July 1990, he attended a seminar on the health needs of lesbian and gay teenagers, where he was interviewed.<ref name="timeline">{{cite web |title=Boy Scouts v. Dale: Case History |publisher=Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund |url=http://lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/resources.html?record=474 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060905092126/http://lambdalegal.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/resources.html?record=474 |archive-date=September 5, 2006}}</ref> An account of the interview was published in a local newspaper in which Dale was quoted as [[Coming out|saying he was gay]]. BSA officials read the interview and expelled Dale from his position as assistant [[Scoutmaster]] of a New Jersey troop.<ref>''Boy Scouts of America v. Dale'', 530 U.S. 640, 697 (2000)</ref> Dale, an [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]], filed suit in the [[New Jersey Superior Court]], alleging, among other things, that the Boy Scouts had violated the state statute prohibiting discrimination on the basis of [[sexual orientation]] in places of public accommodation.<ref>N.J. Stat. Ann. 10:5–4, 10:5–5 (2000).</ref> The [[New Jersey Supreme Court]] ruled against the Boy Scouts, saying that they violated the State's public accommodations law by revoking Dale's membership based on his homosexuality.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/05/nyregion/new-jersey-court-overturns-ouster-of-gay-boy-scout.html | title=New Jersey Court Overturns Ouster of Gay Boy Scout| newspaper=The New York Times| date=August 5, 1999| last1=Hanley| first1=Robert}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hanley|first=Robert |title=Appeals Court Finds in Favor Of Gay Scout |work=The New York Times |date=March 3, 1998 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/03/nyregion/appeals-court-finds-in-favor-of-gay-scout.html?pagewanted=all |access-date=August 1, 2008}}</ref> Among other rulings, the court (1) held that application of that law did not violate the Boy Scouts' [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] right of expressive association because Dale's inclusion would not significantly affect members' ability to carry out their purposes; (2) determined that New Jersey has a compelling interest in eliminating the destructive consequences of discrimination from society, and that its public accommodations law abridges no more speech than is necessary to accomplish its purpose; and (3) held that Dale's reinstatement did not compel the Boy Scouts to express any message.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Dale v. Boy Scouts of America |vol=160 |reporter=N.J. |opinion=562 |date=1999 |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1897530/dale-v-boy-scouts-of-america/ |access-date=2018-01-28 }}</ref>

The Boy Scouts appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which granted [[certiorari]] to determine whether the application of New Jersey's public accommodations law violated the First Amendment.