Boy Scouts files for bankruptcy to put sex-abuse lawsuits on hold

The Boy Scouts of America has filed for bankruptcy protection following hundreds of sex-abuse lawsuits in hopes of working out a victim compensation plan that will allow the 110-year-old organisation to carry on.
Tens of lawyers in the United States are seeking settlements on behalf of several thousand men who say they were molested as scouts by scoutmasters or other leaders decades ago but are only now eligible to sue because of recent changes in their states’ statute-of-limitations laws.
By going to bankruptcy court, as they did on Tuesday, the Scouts can put those lawsuits on hold for now.
But ultimately they could be forced to sell off some of their vast property holdings, including campgrounds and hiking trails, to raise money for a compensation fund that could surpass $1bn.
Jason Amala, a lawyer and partner at Fao, Cochran, Verteetis and Amala law firm, who is on a team representing more than 300 victims across 30 states who are filing a claim against the Boy Scouts, talks to Al Jazeera.

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In This Story: United States

The United States is a country also known as the United States of America, USA, US or just America. There are fifty states in the union, which is a federal republic ruled by a representative democracy. Nearly ten million square kilometres are inhabited by over 300 million people. The majority of Americans speak English.

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