A lawyer representing the City of Brotherly Love, David Smith, told the federal jury that the local scout leaders were "speaking out of both sides of their mouths" when they initially agreed with the city's anti-discrimination policy but then continued to use the national group's employment application, which stated that homosexuals, atheists, and agnostics would not be hired.
Soon after Lattera was kicked out the Boy Scouts in 2003, the city, which has its own anti-discrimination policy, began pressuring the Cradle of Liberty Council to renounce the national scouting policy which discriminates against homosexuals. That national policy was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000.
The Cradle of Liberty Council agreed in 2004 to a statement that it would oppose all "unlawful discrimination" but that deal was later scuttled when the city insisted it go even further and disown the national policy.