High Court Ruling Backs Military Recruiters on Campuses
'Solomon Amendment' Upheld in Unanimous Decision
By Chad Groening and Jim Brown
March 6, 2006

(AgapePress) - Conservative observers are praising a Monday ruling handed down from the Supreme Court requiring colleges that accept federal money to allow military recruiters on campus.

In a unanimous decision, the high court has rejected a free-speech challenge from law school professors in the latest battle over the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy on homosexuals. Professors who object to that policy said they should not be forced to associate with military recruiters or promote their campus appearances. They said their own free-speech rights were being violated.

But the court did not see it that way, in an opinion written by new Chief Justice John Roberts in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights. "A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant the law school considers the recruiter's message," wrote the chief justice. Roberts said there are other, less drastic ways to protect the policy.

Under the 1996 Solomon Amendment, the Secretary of Defense can deny federal funding to institutions of higher learning if they prohibit or prevent ROTC or military recruitment on campus. The court's ruling has effectively upheld that amendment. The rest