Yale Law School Bans JAG Recruiters

[ScreamingEagle]

http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=28155

"Only days before the Judge Advocate General recruiting season is set to begin, Yale Law School officials announced yesterday they will bar military recruiters from the school after years of legal wrangling and campus protests.

This decision, which was announced through a school-wide e-mail, came in response to a Connecticut District Court ruling on Monday in a lawsuit filed by Yale faculty members against the Department of Defense. After reviewing summary judgment claims, U.S. District Judge Janet Hall ruled that the Solomon Amendment -- which blocked federal funding to schools that banned military recruiters from campus -- was unconstitutional as applied to the Yale Law School. In her decision, Hall said the amendment "is not narrowly tailored to advance a compelling government interest, and thus unjustifiably burdens the Faculty Members' First Amendment right of expressive association."

 

[5stringJeff]

The District judge (Janet Hall) is full of , IMO. How does a lack of federal funding detract from free speech?!?

 

[Annie]

The District judge (Janet Hall) is full of , IMO. How does a lack of federal funding detract from free speech?!?

Looks like Congress may be reacting:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=sto...lution_makes_no_sense_at_all__says_sldn155_xm

By a vote of 327 to 84, the House of Representatives today passed a "Sense of Congress" resolution opposing a 3rd Circuit court decision striking down the so-called Solomon Amendment.


In November the 3rd Circuit ruled that Solomon, a law which forced universities to violate non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation by allowing military recruiters on- campus access to students, was unconstitutional. The court found that the law infringed on the free speech rights of law schools that had sought to enforce their non-discrimination policies. Those policies, the schools argued, compelled them to prevent employers who discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation from recruiting on campus. The lawsuit was brought by a coalition of 25 law schools and universities, and supported by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN).


Today's resolution states that "it is the sense of Congress that the executive branch should continue to pursue" an appeal of the 3rd Circuit decision. The resolution is legally non-binding.


"Today's so-called 'Sense of Congress' makes no sense at all," said Sharra E. Greer, Director of Law & Policy for SLDN. "The military certainly has the right -- and the responsibility -- to recruit the best and brightest, but the best and brightest include lesbian, gay and bisexual students, too. That's exactly why it should abandon 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell.' If Congress were truly concerned about national security, it would focus its attention on the talents of the nearly ten thousand lesbian, gay and bisexual service members who have been fired because of their sexual orientation. It is the military's ban, and not the 3rd Circuit's decision, which is contrary to our national security interests."


Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), in opposing today's resolution, said that "(W)e must support our troops in accordance with the U.S. Constitution and with respect for civil rights and fundamental freedoms that are the rubric of this nation." Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) also opposed the resolution, stating that "We should be looking at ways to strengthen our military and expand our resources for winning the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations." Baldwin went on to ask, "(W)hen will we have the debate about the harm caused by excluding many qualified, skilled Americans from serving in our military simply because they are gay or lesbian?"


Others expressing opposition to the resolution included Representatives Sam Farr (D-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA), James McGovern (D-MA), Jerold Nadler (D-NY), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).


Today's resolution was introduced by Representative Mike Rogers (R-AL). The complete text of the resolution is available online at http://www.sldn.org.

 

[Merlin1047]

So it turns out that this isn't a dispute about the war. It's just another underhanded attempt by shysters and academia to push homosexuals into the mainstream.

It's time to amend the constitution and put this issue back in the closet once and for all.

 

[freeandfun1]

I guess Yale figures that military personnel don't deserve adequate and capable attorneys to defend them.