Preparing to sue, ex-Boy Scouts recall abuse by unit leaders

Hundreds of men across the U.S. are signing up with lawyers to sue the Boy Scouts for damages related to sex abuse they claim to have suffered at the hands of scout leaders.

The expected wave of litigation poses a financial threat to the Boy Scouts that could trigger bankruptcy.

For some of the men, it's an emotional challenge to recall the abuse and the decades of psychological damage that resulted.

Darrell Jackson, 57, of The Bronx, N.Y., is interviewed in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. He was abused by scoutmaster Freddie Modica after joining the Boy Scouts in 1972 at the age of 10. Despite receiving psychological counseling over the years, Jackson's marriage broke down. His childhood dreams of becoming an oceanographer long since faded, but he cobbled together a career in home remodeling and maintenance. (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

The BSA has repeatedly apologized and says it now has policies to curtail abuse.

Attorney Jason Amala, from Seattle, talks with client Darrell Jackson, of The Bronx, N.Y., in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Jackson is among hundreds of men across the United States who have reached out to lawyers in recent months, seeking help in suing the Boy Scouts of America for damages related to sex abuse they claim to have suffered at the hands of scout leaders. (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

Darrell Jackson, of The Bronx, N.Y., and his son Darrell Jackson Jr., are photographed in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. The elder Jackson was abused by scoutmaster Freddie Modica after joining the Boy Scouts in 1972 at the age of 10. Despite receiving psychological counseling over the years, Jackson's marriage broke down. His childhood dreams of becoming an oceanographer long since faded, but he cobbled together a career in home remodeling and maintenance. (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

Ray Luna, from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., poses for a photo in New York's Central Park, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Luna, who describes his current life as "blessed," says he still has psychological scars from abuse suffered as a scout in New York City in the 1970s. (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

Ray Luna, 56, from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., is interviewed in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Suffering abuse as a scout in the 1970s, he says, "In my head, there's still anger. I struggle with that." (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

Ray Luna, from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., is interviewed in New York, Tuesday, April 30, 2019. Even during a 26-year-marriage _which produced five children before ending in divorce _ Luna says he never told his wife about the molestation. He abused drugs and alcohol to keep the bad memories at bay, and underwent years of therapy that finally paid dividends. (AP PhotoRichard Drew)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has circulated a U.N. resolution calling on all countries to take urgent action to prevent putting weapons in outer space “for all time” a week after it vetoed a U.S.-Japan resolution to stop an arms race in space.

The Russian draft resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, goes further than the U.S.-Japan proposal, not only calling for efforts to stop weapons from being deployed in outer space but for preventing “the threat or use of force in outer space,” also “for all time.”

It says this should include deploying weapons “from space against Earth, and from Earth against objects in outer space.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council when he vetoed the U,S.-Japan draft that it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.

The vetoed resolution focused solely on weapons of mass destruction including nuclear arms, and made no mention of other weapons in space.

It would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that the U.S. and Russia ratified, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.

Before the U.S.-Japan resolution was put to a vote on April 24, Russia and China proposed an amendment that would call on all countries, especially those with space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”

The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes in the 15-member Security Council required for adoption.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”

Putin was responding to White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after casting the veto that the U.S.-Japan resolution cherry picked weapons of mass destruction.

He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”

Nebenzia also accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.

Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”

Much of the Russian draft resolution is exactly the same as the U.S.-Japan draft, including the language on preventing an arms race in space.

It calls on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space.”

Thomas-Greenfield said the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”

FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)