Don't Sue, Don't Lose

Here is an excerpt from an article on today's major Supreme Court decision:

Supreme Court Sides With College Military RecruitersBy Tony MauroLegal TimesMarch 6, 2006

Rejecting the views of some of the nation’s top law schools and professors, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the so-called Solomon Amendment, which requires universities receiving federal funds to give equal access to military recruiters on campus.

The unanimous decision was a sharp rebuke of the legal academe, many of whose members objected on First Amendment grounds to hosting military recruiters, because of the armed forces’ policies against allowing open homosexuals in their ranks.

Writing for the 8-0 Court, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. said the academics’ arguments “trivialize” some of the Court’s First Amendment precedents while “exaggerating” others. Justice Samuel Alito Jr. did not participate in the ruling.

“This decision will force our schools to carve out an exception to our nondiscrimination policies for the military, and that is unfortunate,” said Carl Monk, executive director of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), which has opposed discrimination in legal education on the basis of sex since 1970. But he said law schools will obey what is now “the law of the land.” Monk expressed the hope that “the day is not far off when gays and lesbians will be able to serve as military lawyers.”

Here is a link to the Court's decision.