The Boy Scouts of America v. Dale/Facts of the Case-Part 1

James Dale, a former Eagle Scout and assistant scoutmaster, was denied adult membership when The Boy Scouts of America(BSA) found out that Dale was a homosexual and a gay rights activist. "Dale filed suit against the BSA in New Jersey state court, charging that his expulsion as an assistant scoutmaster violated New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination (LAD). The suit sought money damages and a court order reinstating him as assistant scoutmaster. The trial court dismissed his suit, ruling that the BSA had consistently excluded any self-declared homosexuals. The court found that homosexuality, from a Biblical and historical perspective, was both morally wrong and criminal. The trial court's decision was overturned on appeal by New Jersey Superior Court, which concluded that the BSA was a "place of public accommodation" under the LAD. The court found BSA had not demonstrated that it was a sufficiently private organization to warrant constitutional protection under the freedom of expression and association guarantees of the First Amendment." (http://law.jrank.org/pages/4831/Boy-Scouts-America-v-Dale.html) "According to Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the Court held that "applying New Jersey's public accommodations law to require the Boy Scouts to admit Dale violates the Boy Scouts' First Amendment right of expressive association." In effect, the ruling gives the Boy Scouts of America a constitutional right to bar homosexuals from serving as troop leaders. Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote for the Court that, "[t]he Boy Scouts asserts that homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the values it seeks to instill," and that a gay troop leader's presence "would, at the very least, force the organization to send a message, both to the young members and the world, that the Boy Scouts accepts homosexual conduct as a legitimate form of behavior."” (http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1999/1999_99_699/)

On Wednesday, June 28, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that a New Jersey anti-discrimination law that required the Boy Scouts of America to admit a homosexual man as a scoutmaster violated the Boy Scouts' First Amendment right of expressive association.

Pacific Heights

After watching the movie “Pacific Heights”, it made me wonder how some people could do the things Michael Keaton’s character, Carter Hayes, did. Basically, Carter Hayes, moved into an apartment owned by an unmarried couple. Actually, it was a home partially converted into an apartment. Carter Hayes apparently found the place in an ad and was interested in moving in. The couple, played by Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith, were looking for tenants to move in. In order to pay for their mortgage, they needed tenants to occupy some of the rooms they were renting out. And part of their policy before accepting tenants, was that those interested in moving in were asked to fill out a background check. That’s where Mr. Hayes comes in.
Some of the red flags that popped up before Mr. Hayes moved in was when, 1) Mr. Hayes was asked to fill out an application, but did not do so. By just taking down the information that Mr. Hayes provided didn’t mean anything since he could have made up resources that he gave. As a landlord, that should have been the first sign of something wrong. 2) When Mr. Hayes’ background check didn’t go through, especially with the so-called “Trust” that he supposedly worked for. With any employment check, there should never be any hitches or anything of that nature. It seemed as Mr. Hayes was lying and there was something fishy about it. 3) Another sign was when Mr. Hayes offered to pay six months ahead in rent without filling out any application-that seems odd don’t you think? That makes him no one special. Just because he makes a lot of money, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have to fill out a background check. And 4) When Mr. Hayes told Mr. Goodman that he spoke to his girlfriend and he had no recollection of it, then he should have contacted her to verify whether or not she did speak to Mr. Hayes.

If these warning signs were taken into consideration, none of the problems that occurred would have happened. The couple in the movie should have been more aware and should have paid more attention to the red flags.

In the movie we watched in class today, “Wall Street”, there was a line “Greed is Good”, which is supposedly now a famous quote of all time from a movie. The film is basically about a wealthy man’s wish to sell off land that an airline company is doing business on for more money. He was supposedly going to help this airline company, but ends up going against his word. In the end, greed takes over and this wealthy gentleman decides to sell off the land for more money. If you think about it, it is the American Dream.

I suppose “greed is good” depending on the situation. If you are making money and not sharing the wealth, whether you do it through donation or helping out a cause, in most cases it is morally wrong. “Morals are concerned with behavior as judged by society.” (Essentials of Business Law, Liuzzo/Bonnice, P. 19). This is where greed can be bad. In our society, most of us are taught to share or help others out in need whenever we can. Some people grow up in poverty and some people are not. In a lot of cases, those who grew up and came from the “hood” or “ghetto” and got an education, a great career, and make lots of money-they usually end up giving back and do something positive for society. “The American culture, for example, holds that such characteristics as freedom, individualism, family life, fair play, hard work, and honesty are important.” (Essentials of Business Law, Liuzzo/Bonnice, P. 19). They go back to their roots and help others less fortunate and encourage them to succeed in life. In doing so, they do this because they know firsthand at how hard it is to come from a place where negativity thrives and make it in today’s society as a successful person. They become an example for those people. This is where being greedy need not apply.

“Greed is good” when you come from a society where there is nothing but negative words said about you, that you can never amount to anything, and you are called a failure. It is these times when you take all that negativity and turn it to a positive. Generally, when a person is successful and usually makes a lot of money, we wonder why they seem so greedy. Is it being greedy or just plain jealousy? If I made tons of money and came from a society where I was looked down upon while growing up and one day someone from my past came up to me asking me for some money, I would honestly tell them no and give them no time of day. Call it bitter, but I would not associate myself with anyone from my past who only talks to me or wants to be part of my life because I am wealthy or successful. To me that is wrong. I would only associate myself with those who were supportive of me and believed in me.

Smash-Me(Ex-Girlfriend) Doll

I’d love to put a hammer to a doll of my ex-girlfriend. It’s a legal way of dealing what I really feel about her right now. I’d love to go into detail, but I’d rather not. I don’t want to stoop to her level. It just upsets me and irritates me at the fact that someone so caring could be so deceitful. Lies after lies and being secretive led to her demise. I’m thankful I did not make a dumb mistake in marrying her. I think I’m going to go home and make a doll of her and run it over with my car. I just hope anyone reading this doesn’t think I’m a violent person because I’m not. Just understand my pain!

Myspace Hoax Responses

"It’s just cruel for any person, especially a 49 year old mother with a daughter of her own, to play such an immature hoax on someone who is only thirteen!” Ro Vegas Design

I agree with you here since it was very immature of the 49 year old mother to get involved. It should have never escalated to this. Because of it, a child is dead.


“People need to be held responsible for their actions, and if Lori Drew were found guilty of all of the charges brought against her anyone who may have thought about doing something like this, a child or an adult, would have second thoughts knowing that they would get in serious trouble.” JD Designs

People like Lori Drew need to grow up. There are more to life than these stupid silly games that people tend to play. What kind of responsibility is Lori Drew taking as a parent? How could she even call herself a parent? That disgusts me!


“The individual that acted out the hoax definitely has some moral, ethical, and values issues disorder. What type of mentally sane person would come up with such an idea?” Raw Impact Designs

I have to agree with you here. There are definitely some sick people out there. Today’s society is out of whack. It all goes back to how they were raised and the type of society they were brought up in. We have to get back to basics folks!


“She posted publicly viewable bulletins on MySpace calling her names and saying all kinds of things that were not true.” Anchor Drive Productions

Whatever happened to being upfront about things? If someone has beef with someone, then tell it to their face. Why take things this far? If it’s a personal issue between two people, then settle it between the both of you. Don’t let anyone else know your business.


In conclusion, I would like to say how upset I am at how some people can be so immature and resort to such matters. It never ceases to amaze me how something like this could have happened. If children were left to grow up as they should and never have interference from adults like Mrs. Drew, then things probably would have been okay. And the end result? It was Megan Meiers losing her life because of it.

"Used Cars" Movie-Types of Crimes or Tort

In class today, we watched a movie called "Used Cars". After watching the film, we were instructed to form groups and come up with a list of crimes and/or torts that were committed in the video. My group consisted of me, Hannah, Jon, and Michael and here is a list that we came up with...

1. Bribery
2. False Advertising
3. Sexual Harassment
4. Perjury
5. Destruction of Property
6. Lying Under Oath
7. Underage Drivers
8. 250 Counts of Driving w/o License
9. Speeding
10. Hit & Run
11. Trespassing
12. Assault w/ a Deadly Weapon
13. No Seatbelts
14. Reckless Driving
15. Child Endangerment
16. Misrepresentation
17. Libel
18. Slander
19. Defamation
20. Conversion