Courts greenlight payments for Boy Scouts of America abuse survivors

The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to take up an appeal challenging the Boy Scouts of America's bankruptcy plan, allowing some $2.5 billion in compensation payments to begin flowing to sexual abuse survivors in New Mexico and across the U.S.

Paul Linnenburger, a Santa Fe attorney who represents abuse survivors, estimated that New Mexico claimants will receive payments ranging from several thousand dollars to "many, many times that," possibly more than $1 million.

But more importantly, the settlement provides recognition for the pain and abuse survivors experienced, he said.

"Survivors need closure and they need validation," Linnenburger said Tuesday. "I do think that the arrangement that was reached within the BSA bankruptcy potentially provides that better than a lot of other mass sex abuse bankruptcy proceedings have."

The Boy Scouts of America filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020 after paying about $150 million to resolve some 250 sexual abuse claims, court records show.

"I don't think there's any way that the payments could be reasonable compensation," Linnenburger said. "But you know, it will be compensation. It is a representation of acknowledgment of the wrong and damage that was done."

New Mexico victims were among those who filed lawsuits against the Boy Scouts of America alleging they were sexually abused by adults during their time as scouts. All lawsuits against BSA were stayed after the organization filed for bankruptcy.

A federal bankruptcy court in Delaware allowed abuse survivors to file claims, even if they had not filed lawsuits. As of November 2020, 82,209 survivors nationwide had filed claims valued at as much as $3.6 billion. Negotiations established a $2.48 million settlement trust to pay victims.

Linnenburger said he did not know how many New Mexicans filed claims.

The settlement trust includes $1.6 million obtained from BSA's insurance companies, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit wrote in May in an order upholding the bankruptcy settlement.

Under BSA lie some 250 local councils incorporated as nonprofits under state law that contributed some $400 million to the settlement trust, the order said.

The settlement also involved the sale of dozens of properties formerly owned by BSA, the order said.

Linnenburger said he does not believe BSA sold its Philmont Scout Ranch in Colfax County, which includes 140,000 acres of wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Officials at the Philmont Scout Ranch did not return messages seeking comment this week.

A bankruptcy judge approved a settlement agreement in 2022. But some victims appealed the ruling, arguing that survivors should be able to file separate claims against local councils and other third-party organizations that supported BSA programs.

The Third Circuit affirmed the bankruptcy plan in May. And on Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, allowing the settlement to go forward.

A local council in New Mexico, the Great Southwest Council Inc. based in Albuquerque, referred questions this week to its national organization, Scouting America.

"This is an important moment of healing and closure that survivors have long deserved," Scouting America said in a written statement. The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court culminates five years of collaboration among abuse survivors, Scouting America, local councils and insurance companies, it said.

"This action by our nation's highest court means that our plan is now final and irrevocable, and the Settlement Trust established under the reorganization plan can now expedite the payment of compensation to survivors of historical abuse," Scouting America said in the statement.