EXPLAINER: Thorny issues face Boy Scouts bankruptcy judge

DOVER, Del. (AP) — More than two years after the Boy Scouts of America sought bankruptcy protection to stave off a flood of lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by Scout leaders and volunteers, a Delaware judge is weighing whether to confirm the BSA’s reorganization plan.

After a three-week evidentiary hearing and nearly a week of closing arguments, the judge is expected to rule within the next few weeks. The issues facing Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein are controversial and complex. No matter how she rules, the case will head next to a federal district court, with appeals likely to follow. Here is a brief look at bankruptcy case.

THE PLAN

The reorganization plan calls for the BSA and its 250 local councils, along with settling insurance companies and troop sponsoring organizations, to contribute some $2.6 billion in cash and property to a fund for abuse victims.

In return for those contributions, those entities would be released from further liability, meaning they could not be sued for Scout-related abuse claims. But the plan allows abuse claimants to sue insurance companies and local troop sponsoring organizations that do not enter into their own settlements within one year.

The settlement trust would be overseen by Barbara Houser, a retired Texas bankruptcy judge who served as lead mediator in Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy. She would be assisted by retired federal judges Diane Welch and Michael Reagan, who would serve as claims administrators. Houser would be required to consult with a 7-member advisory committee consisting of attorneys representing abuse claimants.

THE CLAIMS

When it filed for bankruptcy, the BSA was facing about 275 filed lawsuits, and was aware of roughly another 1,400 pending claims, but more than 82,200 abuse claims are before the bankruptcy...