Post by MARIO on Mar 7, 2006 19:43:07 GMT -8
Military Wins at U.S. High Court on Campus Recruiting (Update1)
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration can demand that universities give military recruiters the same campus access as other employers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, rejecting free- speech arguments by law schools opposed to the armed services' ban on acknowledged homosexuals.
The justices unanimously upheld a government policy of threatening to cut off federal funds, in some cases hundreds of millions of dollars, from universities that don't provide equal access. The ruling reversed a lower court decision said the policy violated university speech and associational 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,'' Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court.
The decision boosts the Bush administration as it struggles to maintain recruiting levels to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a defeat for Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other universities that accused the government of intruding on academic freedom.
The dispute centered on the so-called Solomon Amendment, first enacted by Congress in 1994 to pressure universities into allowing military recruiters on campus. The Bush administration gave the law renewed emphasis after the 2001 terrorist attacks, insisting that military representatives get the same treatment as other recruiters. Congress later wrote that equal-access requirement into law.
READ THE REST:
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aXASGHSRZJyg&refer=us
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- The Bush administration can demand that universities give military recruiters the same campus access as other employers, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, rejecting free- speech arguments by law schools opposed to the armed services' ban on acknowledged homosexuals.
The justices unanimously upheld a government policy of threatening to cut off federal funds, in some cases hundreds of millions of dollars, from universities that don't provide equal access. The ruling reversed a lower court decision said the policy violated university speech and associational 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,'' Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court.
The decision boosts the Bush administration as it struggles to maintain recruiting levels to wage wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a defeat for Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other universities that accused the government of intruding on academic freedom.
The dispute centered on the so-called Solomon Amendment, first enacted by Congress in 1994 to pressure universities into allowing military recruiters on campus. The Bush administration gave the law renewed emphasis after the 2001 terrorist attacks, insisting that military representatives get the same treatment as other recruiters. Congress later wrote that equal-access requirement into law.
READ THE REST:
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aXASGHSRZJyg&refer=us
