Boy Scouts Hid Allegations Of Abuse For Decades

According to a Los Angeles Times report, for over two decades, the Boy Scouts of America failed to report hundreds of alleged child molesters to police and often hid the allegations from parents and the public.  A review of 1,600 confidential files dating from 1970 to 1991 has found that Scouting officials frequently urged admitted offenders to quietly resign and helped many cover their tracks.  In the majority of cases, the Scouts learned of alleged abuse after it had been reported to the authorities.  But in more that 500 instances, the Scouts learned about it from boys, parents, staff members or anonymous tips.  In about 400 of those cases, there is no record of Scouting officials reporting the allegations to police.  In more than 100 of the cases, officials actively sought to conceal the alleged abuse or allowed the suspects to hide it.

Wisconsin Judge overturns Wisconsin Union Rights Limiting Law

ABC is reporting that a Dane County Circuit Judge has ruled that the law violates both the state and U.S. Constitution and is null and void. The ruling applies to all local public workers affected by the law, including teachers and city and county government employees, but not those who work for the state. They were not a party to the lawsuit, which was brought by a Madison teachers union and a Milwaukee public workers union.

This ruling means that local Wisconsin government and schools now must once again bargain over those issues. The state Supreme Court in June 2011 ruled that the law was constitutional after it had been blocked by a different Dane County judge on a challenge over its passage being a violation of open meetings law. Anger over the law's passage led to an effort to recall Walker from office. More than 930,000 signatures were collected triggering the June recall election. Walker won and became the first governor in U.S. history to survive a recall.