The UCLAW Veterans Society recently authored a friend of the
court brief supporting a New Jersey court’s decision allowing
the military to recruit in law schools receiving federal
funding.
The New Jersey court rejected FAIR’s request for a
preliminary injunction on Nov. 5, 2003 ““ a motion that would
have suspended the 1996 Solomon Amendment until the court reached a
final decision. The amendment provides recruiters access to law
school career centers, and threatens to cut the schools’
government funding if they do not comply.
The Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights brought suit
against the government late last year, arguing the Solomon
Amendment is unconstitutional and limits free speech.
The trial has now been moved to the Third Circuit Court of
Appeals, where Howard Bashman, an appellate lawyer in the
Philadelphia area, filed on Feb. 24 the veteran society’s
brief on behalf of veteran law organizations at UCLA, the College
of William and Mary and Washburn University.
The FAIR suit suggests the amendment is discriminatory toward
homosexuals because it perpetuates the military’s
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which
excludes openly gay people from entering the army.
“Law school non-discrimination polices are expressive to
the core … When the government forces a law school to abet a
discriminatory employer, by providing a forum and disseminating its
message, it is infringing on that expressive activity,” one
of the FAIR briefs in the case read.
The American Association of Law Schools discrimination policy
protects gays.
Supporters of the amendment see a different side to the story,
and believe FAIR’s suit is detrimental to both the military
and law students.
“The military has a lot of important educational and
economic benefits for potential recruits, including potential Judge
Advocate General recruits,” said Pete Dungan, secretary of
the UCLAW Veterans Society.
A JAG is a lawyer for the military, an occupation whose ranks
Dungan, an army aviator for five years, said he wants to join after
law school.
Dungan, one of the brief’s authors, believes repealing the
amendment will hurt students as well as the military.
“The reality today is that the armed forces currently find
themselves working quite hard to recruit and retain military
personnel,” the brief read. “If the plaintiffs prevail
in their bid to bar the military from campuses, the military will
suffer. Military readiness and effectiveness will suffer from the
lack of access to law school campuses for the purpose of
recruiting.”
The Third Circuit Court will most likely set the case for an
oral argument sometime in May, and a decision will be made between
three and nine months later.
Other organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union
of New Jersey and the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association,
have filed briefs in support of FAIR, agreeing the Solomon
Amendment supports the discrimination of gays.
Dungan and others say the issue is not about homosexuality, and
is instead about opportunities for law students and the
military’s right to recruit.
“The recruiting is paramount. Many people at William and
Mary aren’t even aware of the opportunities in the army.
Without the ability to come into school, a lot of people
wouldn’t hear that message,” said Andrew Flor,
president of the Military Law Society at the College of William and
Mary Law School.
Dungan said the Solomon Amendment does not promote homophobia,
and that other ways of protesting the military’s policy on
homosexuality would be more effective and less harmful to veterans
and students.