A ten-year controversy over military recruiting on campuses could finally end up on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Some colleges in the United States, particularly law schools, have attempted to ban military recruiters because they say the military's policies against gays and lesbians violate the colleges' anti-discrimination policies.
The Solomon Amendment was created in 1995 as a way of fighting the ban against military recruiters. Under this bill, any school that refuses to allow military recruiters on campus can lose some of its government funding.
The enforcement of the Solomon Amendment intensified after September 11. Yale Law School Prof. Robert Burt said the federal government threatened to cut off funds to universities' entire systems if the law schools did not treat military recruiters as they would any potential employer.
The issue has been in and out of the court system for the past 10 years, but most recently, a decision was made in the Connecticut District Court that sided with the faculty of Yale Law School and declared the Solomon Amendment unconstitutional.
"Yale Law School explored the possibility of some kind of compromise, and when it was clear that wasn't going anywhere, 45 members of the law school faculty decided that we would sue as members of the faculty," Burt said. "Last week we won in the district court."
As a result, Burt said military recruiters do not have access to some of the services provided to other potential employers at Yale Law School.
"As long as the military is not able to sign the non-discrimination agreement, we would not want them to participate in the official school program," Yale Law student Rebecca Tinio said.
According to the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Web site, a school can lose funding from the Departments of Defense, Education, Health and Human Services and Transportation for failing to comply with the Solomon Amendment regulations.
The schools at the center of the controversy are mainly law schools because military recruiters seek students who could become lawyers for the military.
Military recruiting has not been a predominate issue at the University's Law School due to a special situation, Law Prof. Robert O'Neil said.
Located next to the Law School is the Judge Advocate General's Corps School, which is run by the Defense Department.
"With the JAG school right next door, it was possible to have the interviews conducted there and avoid the issue, but that only works here," O'Neil said.
Burt said the court's decision does not protect all universities.
"The district judge in our case issued an injunction against the government and said the government could not cut off federal funds," Burt said. "We, at the moment, are the only law school in the entire United States with the protection of that injunction."
The Department of Defense now has the opportunity to file an appeal, and O'Neil said the Supreme Court could decide to hear the case.
"If they don't take it, the question is to what extent Congress would revise the policy to keep some kind of restraint in place but to stay in keeping with the court decisions," he said.
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