High Court Allows On-campus Military Recruiting

The U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously ruled that colleges whose law schools object to the Pentagon’s policy of barring openly gay and lesbian persons from joining the U.S. military must allow military recruiters on their campuses.

The court’s decision in the case of Rumsfeld v. FAIR upholds a 1994 law requiring colleges that accept federal funds to allow military recruiters the same level of access to their campuses enjoyed by other employees.

"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 Chief Justice John Roberts in the court’s opinion. “Recruiters are, by definition, outsiders who come onto campus for the limited purpose of trying to hire students -- not to become members of the school's expressive association.”

Also See:
Brief History of the Supreme Court
Duties of the Chief Justice