By a unanimous 8-0 decision, the Supreme Court held that the Solomon Amendment does not infringe upon the First Amendment rights of universities. The Solomon Amendment, which passed the House 276-121, passed the Senate and became law under Pres. Clinton, conditions receipt of federal funding upon allowing military recruiters on campus -- any university that refuses to allow military recruiters can be barred from receiving federal funds.
This is not a First Amendment issue. As Chief Justice Roberts noted, "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." That's because military recruiters are "by definition, outsiders who come onto campus for the limited purpose of trying to hire students - not to become members of the school's expressive association."
The law schools and universities who sued the DoD over this issue merely masked their anti-military bias with a weak First Amendment argument. It's actually good that the Third Circuit blew this one when it ruled 2-1 in favor of the law schools, thereby enabling the Supreme Court to set this issue aright.
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