What If BSA Rules Applied to Congress
Posted in Current Events by John E. Pannell on October 5th, 2006 at 12:34 am If discussion of the recent issue regarding former Congressman Mark Foley of Florida and the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) Youth Protection Policy disturb you, please skip this post.
It’s been said that many things could be improved in our society if more folks were to conduct themselves as Scouts in their daily lives. With that in mind I want to comment on the recent issues around Mark Foley and the BSA’s Youth Protection Policy (YPP).
This policy deals with how both youth and adults are to conduct themselves. On a basic level, among other things, it deals with how adults are to conducts themselves when dealing with youth. It also addresses what must be done in the event of suspected improper conduct against a Scout by any person. Upon being told of an accusation of improper conduct, or suspecting such conduct himself, the Scouter (adult leader) must immediately notify his Scout Exceutive and only his Scout Executive, who will then investigate the matter and notify authorities if necessary. The sole exception is if he is required by statute to also report this to the local authorities. He is not to wait three years to do this. He is not to conduct his own investigation into the veracity of the accusation. He is not to leak it to the media.
This is designed to protect the rights and privacy of the possible victim and his family. It helps to insure that justice is done, according to the rule of law. It also protects the accused against the damange caused by false accusations, and prevents the creation of a media circus.
Now let’s look at the Foley situation.
It is said, three years ago, upon being made aware of potentially improper, but not explicit, instant messenger exchanges between the Congressman and a page the Speaker’s staff reported the situation to the official in charge of the page program for the US House of Representatives. I believe this is the Clerk of the House. This would be the proper conduct under the BSA’s rules: report the accusation to the Scout Executive only, who will then deal with it accordingly. Barring any further misconduct neither Speaker Hastert nor his staff would have any further role in this matter.
It’s also claimed the young man’s parents — as, due to an error by abcnews.com, it’s now come to light that he was 18 when this occurred — only wanted this to stop and did not want an investigation. Given accusations of criminal misconduct by a member of the House of Representatives, an investigation should have been conducted immediately, regardless of the parents’ wishes. Apparently this was not done, contrary to what would be require by the BSA’s YPP.
Now three years later, this matter was leaked to the press and the rest is now history. Others, feigning outrage and claiming to care about the children, have made accusations against this former Congressman. I do not defend Mr. Foley. However, those making these additional accusations are very hypocritical in my opinion. If they truly cared about the welfare of the House pages they would have immediately notified the proper authorities and not wait three years to talk to the press. They did not act in accordance with the BSA’s YPP. Instead they chose partisan politics over justice and the protection of minors.
Investigations will occur, not just a criminal investigation against Mr. Foley, but also an internal investigation. Among the many internal issues that should be dealt with:
- Why didn’t the other accusers report these accusations to the responsible authority immediately?
- Did the Clerk’s office investigate this matter? If not, why not? If so, what were their findings and were criminal authorities notified?
- Who leaked this matter to the press?
- Someone in the press, now having information about sexual misconduct against a member, waited three years. Why did he/they not immediately report this the appropriate authorities?
There is more to this issue than we currently know. However, we can see that many folks acted contrary to rules the BSA has put in place to deal with such matters. Had everyone involved acted by these rules the matter would have been dealt with years ago. Any future misconduct between then and now could have been avoided. Any criminal issues would have been dealt with. If Mr. Foley’s claims of alcoholism are true that, too, would have been dealt with three years sooner.
Clearly, all involved would have been better off if rules similar to the BSA’s youth protection policy had been followed. Instead, we will now have a media circus that has been clearly crafted for partisan benefit, rather than for the protection of youth or the punishment or treatment of a potential criminal.
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