Campuses May Bar Military Recruiters: Rate this story

[TalkingDog]

Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander....or whatever. Didn't see this posted this morning....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=5&u=/latimests/20041130/ts_latimes/campusesmaybarmilitaryrecruiters

Tue Nov 30

WASHINGTON — Handing a significant legal victory to gay-rights advocates, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that academic institutions may restrict on-campus recruiting by the military because of the Pentagon (news - web sites)'s policy on gays and lesbians.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites), based in Philadelphia, ruled that a federal law known as the Solomon Amendment infringes on the free-speech rights of schools by allowing the federal government to withhold funds from colleges and universities that deny access to military recruiters.

>snip

"The court understood that if bigots have a 1st Amendment right to exclude gays, then enlightened institutions have a 1st Amendment right to exclude bigots," said E. Joshua Rosenkranz, lead counsel for the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, a coalition of more than 25 law schools — including those at Stanford University, New York University and Georgetown University — that filed suit against the Pentagon in September 2003.

[northzax]

1. I agree with this, with one caveat

if the schools accept money from the military for R&D or other programs, then they need to allow recruiters on campus, you can't have it both ways.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

2. nyu already does!!!

[Supersedeas]

3. E. JOSHUA FREAKING ROSENKRANZ...took on the big dogs and came home

with a dawg and monkey hide.

CLASSIC:

"if bigots have a 1st Amendment right to exclude...,then enlightened institutions have a 1st Amendment right to exclude bigots."

E. Joshua FREAKING Rosenkranz and his peeps deserve a BIG SHOUTOUT!!!

[Ramsey]

4. Bush went to far, created this lawsuit

On NPR this morning, the legal correspondent discussed this case. She said that for years the universities and the military had a cooperative agreement. Universities with non-discrimination policies allowed military recruiting to take place off campus, and the military apparently was satisfied with this. In that arrangement, the universities did not have to make exceptions to their non-discrimination policies, and the military could still contact interested recruits.

When Bush came in, his administration reinterpreted the statute as permitting the federal government to withhold all federal funds from the entire university unless the military recruiters could set up their booths or offices alongside all the other recruiters. This is precisely what the universities policies forbade, recruitment by companies that discriminate against any segment of their student body (law schools having been the first to establish such policies).

When the Bush administration started to threaten to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars from universities, they had to decide between their principles and their pocketbook, and that's when this suit was filed.

If Bush had just left well enough alone, his military could still recruit. Apparently he just has to be the big bully getting his way all the way all the time. Except once again, the courts have shot down his megalomaniacal over-reaching plans.

[VegasWolf]

5. Bigots should barred from universities if for no other reason

than intellectual dishonesty.

[Endangered Specie]

6. Oh please let NC State do that...

they really whore out to the military recruiters and the ROTC.

[Moderator]

7. Duplicate

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1030276&mesg_id=1030276