A trial involving a man who claims he was molested in the 1980s by a Boy Scout leader began on Wednesday in state court in Portand, Oregon. The plaintiff in the case is a 37-year-old man who alleges he was molested by an assistant Scoutmaster. He has sued the Boy Scouts and is asking for $14 million in damages.

The trial will, of course, give the plaintiff ample opportunity to prove his case prior to the jury's verdict. But in a lot of ways, the biggest ruling in the case has probably already happened -- when the Oregon Supreme...