Forum For Academic And Institutional Rights
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc.'', 547 U.S. 47 (2006), was a
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...
case in which the Court ruled that the federal government, under the
Solomon Amendment The term Solomon Amendment has been applied to several provisions of U.S. law originally sponsored by U.S. Representative Gerald B. H. Solomon (R-NY). The 1982 Solomon Amendment was an amendment to a federal education bill that made compliance ...
, could constitutionally withhold funding from universities if they refuse to give military recruiters access to school resources. Law schools were unwilling to allow recruiters onto campus because they considered the military's so-called "
Don't ask, don't tell "Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on Sexual orientation in the United States military, military service of homosexual people. Instituted during the Presidency of Bill Clinton, Clinton administration, the pol ...
" policy discriminatory. The Supreme Court held oral arguments on December 6, 2005, and issued an 8–0 decision on March 6, 2006, finding the Solomon Amendment constitutional.


Background

In 1993, Congress passed the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, codified at , which required that the military discharge a member who (with certain exceptions): : s engaged in, attempted to engage in, or solicited another to engage in a homosexual act or acts ... r ifthe member has stated that he or she is a homosexual or bisexual, or words to that effect, unless there is a further finding ... ade at the member has demonstrated that he or she is not a person who engages in, attempts to engage in, has the propensity to engage in, or intends to engage in homosexual acts ... r ifthe member has married or attempted to marry a person known to be of the same biological sex. Many law schools had policies denying campus access to recruiters from employers who did not comply with their anti-discrimination policies. Objecting to the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy as discriminatory, the schools refused to permit military recruiters on-campus. Congress responded by passing the
Solomon Amendment The term Solomon Amendment has been applied to several provisions of U.S. law originally sponsored by U.S. Representative Gerald B. H. Solomon (R-NY). The 1982 Solomon Amendment was an amendment to a federal education bill that made compliance ...
, which required colleges and universities who receive federal money to allow military recruiters onto their campuses like recruiters for other employers. In Fall of 2003, Forum for the Academic & Institution Rights, Inc. (FAIR), an association of law schools and law faculty asked the
United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...
for the District of New Jersey to enjoin enforcement of the Solomon Amendment on the grounds it violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of association. The District Court ruled against FAIR. FAIR then appealed to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which found in November 2004 that FAIR had "demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of its First Amendment claims and that it is entitled to preliminary injunctive relief." Secretary Rumsfeld's position was represented before the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
by the
Solicitor General A solicitor general is a government official who serves as the chief representative of the government in courtroom proceedings. In systems based on the English common law that have an attorney general or equivalent position, the solicitor general ...
,
Paul Clement Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American attorney who served as United States Solicitor General, U.S. Solicitor General from 2005 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Cou ...
. E. Joshua Rosenkranz presented FAIR's oral argument.


Opinion of the Court

The Court, in an 8–0 opinion written by Chief Justice Roberts, held that the government could deny federal funds to schools that do not permit recruitment. The court noted that the Solomon Amendment neither denies the institutions the right to speak, nor requires them to say anything. The opinion also holds that Congress, through the "raise and support Armies" clause, could even directly force schools to allow recruiting without threatening the withholding of funds, if they so desired, and that, as a result, no question of "unconstitutional conditions" arises.


Footnotes


External links

*
Findlaw's archive of the case's petition for certiorariUnited States Court of Appeals for The Third Circuit decision on the case
(PDF)

* ttp://balkin.blogspot.com/2006/03/alls-fair-in-law-and-war.html All's FAIR in Law and War(in-depth analysis) a
Balkinization
blog
Yale Daily News: "Court Upholds Recruiting"
(News Analysis) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rumsfeld V. Forum For Academic And Institutional Rights, Inc. 2006 in United States case law American Civil Liberties Union litigation Don't ask, don't tell Donald Rumsfeld litigation United States Free Speech Clause case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Roberts Court