Solomon Amendment - Constitutional Challenge

Constitutional Challenge

Since 1991, the Association of American Law Schools, the principal consortium of United States law schools, required that all of its member institutions establish a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and that member schools require the same policy of any employer to which it grants access for recruiting employees. Many law schools oppose military recruitment on campus because the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy denying employment in the military to open gays and lesbians contradicts their non-discrimination policies.

In 2004, the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals found for the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, a group representing law schools, led by Professor Kent Greenfield of Boston College Law School, opposed to the presence of military recruiters on campus.

On appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court in Rumsfeld v. FAIR upheld the Solomon Amendment in a unanimous decision on March 6, 2006. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the majority, wrote: "As a general matter, the Solomon Amendment regulates conduct, not speech. It affects what law schools must do—afford equal access to military recruiters—not what they may or may not say."

At least two institutions (Vermont Law School, and William Mitchell College of Law) have declined to allow military recruiting on campus. These schools receive little in way of federal funds compared to large research universities.