Scouts Again Fail to Block Eagle Rank for O.C. Twins

The Boy Scouts of America, which is battling to keep a set of Anaheim twin brothers out of scouting because they won’t recite a religious oath, has lost another attempt to prevent the boys from receiving the group’s highest rank--Eagle Scouts.

Earlier this week, the California Supreme Court rejected a request by the Boy Scouts’ lawyers to temporarily block any efforts by 16-year-old Michael and William Randall to become Eagle Scouts.

The legal battle began in 1991, when the twins, then 9, and their attorney father, James G. Randall, successfully argued in court that their First Amendment rights were violated when they were ousted from the Scouts for refusing to swear an oath to God.

When the state’s highest court voted in 1994 to review the case, they left in place an injunction commanding the group to advance the twins up Scouting ranks without requiring the pair to “promise to do their duty to God.”

In its latest request, the group sought to have that injunction removed.

As a result, the twins are in a virtual foot race with Scouting officials.

The Randalls are trying to get their Eagle Scout badges before justices release their opinion, which is due before April 6. If the court rules for the Scouts, the group could kick the brothers out of scouting without considering their applications.

On Thursday, the twins’ father asked Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard O. Frazee Sr. to order the Scouts to consider his sons’ Eagle Scouts application. A Feb. 23 court hearing was set.

James Randall said the Boy Scouts should not stall consideration of the teens’ applications in an attempt to deny his sons Eagle badges.

Attorneys for the Scouts were unavailable for comment.