Supreme Court won't reopen Boy Scouts sex abuse settlement plan

Source: USA Today

Updated Jan. 12, 2026, 10:54 a.m. ET


WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court won’t review a bankruptcy plan for the Boy Scouts of America, keeping in place a resolution of tens of thousands of claims against the organization and compensation for sexual abuse survivors.

The court on Jan. 12 rejected an appeal from one group of survivors opposed to the $2.5 billion plan, which was confirmed by a bankruptcy court in 2022. Other victims of sexual abuse and the Boy Scouts of America had urged the court not to intervene.

Reopening the case would throw the future of the organization into question and be a "devastating, re-traumatizing blow" to survivors, the Boy Scouts told the court. Because of the advanced age of many of the abuse survivors, more have died awaiting resolution than the total number of abuse victims seeking a different deal, according to the organization.

Those challenging the plan are 75 abuse survivors in Guam. Their attorneys argued the deal should be blocked in line with the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision that upended the bankruptcy settlement with the company that made OxyContin.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/01/12/supreme-court-boy-scouts-sex-abuse-bankruptcy/88103190007/