Supreme Court not Buying Objection to Military Recruiters

Justice John Paul Stevens, a World War II veteran, said he did not see how the 1st Amendment allowed law faculties the right to keep out military recruiters.

That coming from one of the Court's most liberal members. This is a simple open and shut case; the First Amendment does not select between which groups it protects and which it silences. The military is allowed to recruit on campuses in the same fashion as campuses are allowed to protest their presence.

Look for members of Congress to come out in support of the universities in their constituencies as the elections of 2006 approach. This issue may well make or break many Northeastern campaigns as Ivy League schools try fervently to get the military kicked off their campuses. Nevertheless, look back at the roll call vote for the Solomon Amendment (which says public schools not allowing military recruitment on their campus will do so with the risk of losing federal funds) and see how many Democrats voting "AYE" turn around and go against this vote in their campaigns.

Expect at least seven or eight justices to decide in favor of the military recruiters in the case of Rumsfeld vs. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights. The decision would reverse yet another of the loony decisions from the Ninth "Circus" Court in San Francisco.