U.S. Loses Ruling Over College Bans on Military Recruiters

By Michael Dobbs
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 30, 2004; Page A03

A federal appeals court yesterday prohibited the government from withholding funds from colleges and universities that refuse to cooperate with military recruiters because of the Pentagon's discrimination against gays in the armed forces.

In a 2 to 1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia blocked the government from enforcing a law known as the Solomon Amendment, which punishes universities that refuse to allow military recruiters on campus. The law was originally passed by Congress in 1996 but was not actively enforced before the beginning of President Bush's administration.

"This is a landmark decision," said Joshua Rosenkranz, lead counsel for a network of 25 law schools and 900 law professors who complained that the Solomon Amendment violated their First Amendment rights. "The court understood that, in a free society, the government cannot co-opt private institutions as government mouthpieces."

The court ruled that the Solomon Amendment violated the free-speech rights of schools that restricted on-campus recruiting in response to the military's ban on gays. By threatening to withdraw federal funds from schools that refused to cooperate with military recruiters, the court wrote, the government was compelling them "to express a message that is incompatible with their educational objectives."

more here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20657-2004Nov29.html

I was so annoyed when I took my daughter to a "college night" at the high school. The first booth in the door wasn't for a college, but for military recruiters seeking fresh blood.