Justice Alito temporarily halts Boy Scouts' $2.46 billion sexual abuse settlement

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday temporarily halted the Boy Scouts of America's $2.46 billion sexual abuse settlement after a small group of claimants sought to block the settlement. 

The number of claimants seeking to block the settlement is only 144 out of the 82,000 people who filed claims for payment in the organization's bankruptcy. They have asked the court to halt the settlement, arguing that it prevents them from filing other lawsuits against organizations that have not gone bankrupt, including churches that ran Boy Scout programs, according to Fox News.

Alito issued the pause "pending further order of the undersigned or of the Court."

One of the lawyers representing 67 of the 144 claimants told Reuters that they are excited about the issued stay, even though it is just temporary.  

The stay will give the court time to look over a request by some of the abuse claimants.

The Boy Scouts of America told Fox News Digital that this is "not a decision on the merits of the plaintiffs’ application for a stay of the plan."

The organization filed for bankruptcy in 2020 after decades of sexual abuse claims had been made, and after several states passed laws allowing accusers to sue over the decades-old abuse allegations.