On March 6, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government can deny funds to law schools that prohibit military recruiters on their campuses.
The Court upheld the Soloman Amendmant, passed by Congress in 1995, which gives the government the right to act punitively against law schools that did not provide military recruiters with student access equal to that granted other employers.
In a unanimous decision, thr Court ruled that the Solomon Amendment did not infringe on law school’s freedom of speech. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his opinion, “The Solomon Amendment neither limits what law schools may say nor requires them to say anything.”
The Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, a national organization of law schools, opposes the current legislation, calling the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy discrimination against open homosexuals. Members of FAIR claim that they should not be forced to permit “unequal opportunity” employers on their campuses. In making this claim, they challenge the Solomon Amendment, which the organization argues violates the schools’ First Amendment rights.
While the court was expected to rule against them, many law schools were saddened by the justices’ decision. Professor Chai Feldblum of Georgetown’s Law Center felt that this ruling was a great setback to the law schools’ efforts to eliminate discrimination on their campuses. After the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was established in 1993, Feldblum helped organize the Law Center’s faculty for membership in FAIR.
“The faculty of the law center is very disappointed with the Supreme Court’s Ruling,” Feldblum said. “We believe it should be up to the students and faculty to determine who comes to their campus. We expect a large amount of protests in the fall, when recruitment resumes.”
Feldblum also said that the Law Center itself does not receive the federal funds that would be affected under the Solomon Amendment. Rather, the main campus’ dependence on government money obligates the Law Center to abide by this law.
Major Marty Klein, head of recruitment and enrollment at Georgetown’s ROTC, said he disagrees with the depiction of the military as a discriminatory institution.
“Throughout the history of this great nation, the military has allowed a diverse range of people to serve their country. That hasn’t changed,” he said.
Klein also remarked that he has never felt resentment for his presence on campus, emphasizing that military recruiters are not “slick salesmen.”
