Judge Won’t Force Scouts to Meet in Suit Over Pledge

A Calexico girl who refused to recite the portion of the Girl Scout pledge that deals with God received a blow in her legal battle Wednesday when a judge refused to order the Girl Scouts to resume meetings.

Following a conference in his chambers with attorneys from both sides, Superior Court Judge Vincent P. DiFiglia refused to issue a temporary restraining order that would have effectively reinstated 6-year-old Nitzya Cuevas-Macias in the scouting organization.

Cuevas-Macias and her parents sued the local Girl Scouts in state court after a nearly identical lawsuit against the Girl Scouts of the United States of America was transferred to federal court last week.

The girl refuses to utter a statement in the Girl Scout Promise that says members will “serve God.” The Girl Scouts do not require members to believe in God and the 6-year-old is too young to understand the concept, according to the lawsuit.

Guylyn Remmenga Cummins, the attorney representing the San Diego-Imperial Council of the Girl Scouts, told DiFiglia that all meetings of the girl’s troop in Calexico have been canceled. Therefore, Cummins argued, no judicial order is necessary since the girl is not being harmed.

Cummins said the legal standard for a temporary restraining order was not met because Cuevas-Macias did not prove that she was suffering “irreparable harm” by not attending meetings.

“To say we’re disappointed would be an understatement,” said James Randall, the attorney representing Cuevas-Macias.

Randall is the Orange County lawyer who won a similar lawsuit last summer against the Boy Scouts on behalf of his two sons.

“If I was a Girl Scout leader right now, I would hang my head in shame,” Randall said, noting that another judge issued a now-expired temporary restraining order in the case only two weeks ago.

Cuevas-Macias made her first court appearance since the legal action began several weeks ago. The girl played with her mother and later posed for cameras. Asked if their daughter might be harmed by the acrimonious legal battle, her parents resisted giving a direct answer.

“Yeah, she’s going to be hurt because this society is implementing something to force us to believe in God,” said the girl’s father, Salvador Cuevas.

“She’s going to be stronger after this case because, according to what we have been teaching her, everybody has to respect everybody, no matter what,” he said.

Attorneys will appear again before DiFiglia on Dec. 18, when Cuevas-Macias asks the judge to issue a preliminary injunction.