Tuesday, September 18, 2007
2d Circuit Upholds Denial of Federal Funding to Yale Law School for Violating Solomon Amendment
The Second Circuit on Monday reversed the district court and held that Yale Law School could be denied federal funding under the Solomon Amendment (10 U.S.C. § 983(b)) for barring military recruiters from its campus. Burt v. Gates, No. 05- 1732 (2d Cir. 9/17/07). The Second Circuit cited Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc., 547 U.S. 47 (2006), in concluding that the government's policy of withholding money to schools that bar military recruiters does not violate the First Amendment.
Press and blogosphere coverage:
- NY Law Journal: Denial of Funds to Yale Law School Upheld Over Military Recruiter Ban, by Beth Bar
- Inside Higher Ed: Appeals Court Upholds Military Recruiting, by Scott Jaschik
- Powerline: Yale's Disgrace, by Scott Johnson
Update: Yale Dean Harold Koh released this statement today.
Prior TaxProf Blog coverage:
- Supreme Court Unanimously Upholds Solomon Amendment (3/6/06)
- Reactions to Rumsfeld v. FAIR (3/7/06)
- More Reactions to Rumsfeld v. FAIR and the Solomon Amendment (3/13/06)
- NLJ on Rumsfeld v. FAIR: Good Ruling, Bad Policy (3/30/06)
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2007/09/2d-circuit-upho.html
Comments
IIRC, when the Feds wanted to enforce Title X and affirmative action quotas on private schools, they also included student loans and grants as federal funding.
I suspect that you could count on your two hands the number of universities and colleges that do not allow those.
Posted by: J'hn1 | Sep 19, 2007 9:38:17 AM
Guys, it's not federal funding to the Law School that's the issue. The law school gets very little. It's the *University's* funding. And certain parts of the university -- such as the Medical school -- get hundreds of millions to support scientific reserach.
Posted by: Just a Dude | Sep 19, 2007 9:20:30 AM
A factoid having nothing to do with the merits: all of the judges on this case, both in the District Court and the Court of Appeals, were women.
Posted by: RHD | Sep 19, 2007 7:45:26 AM
Simply cutting off Federal funds from Yale law school is not enough.
We should call on a moratorium on hiring graduates from Yale law school, certainly in any federal agency, but voluntarily in the private sector.
If you want to do your part against the enemies of America, do NOT hire anyone who went to Yale law school.
Posted by: Paul A' Barge | Sep 19, 2007 6:14:28 AM
RHD is exactly right. I learned in years of law practice that if you can't get in through the front door, go through the back. A win is a win. Same logic as putting Al Capone away for tax evasion. Hit em where it hurts. Now if we can just get a Solomon Amendment to cut off federal funds to cities that won't cooperate in enforcing immigration laws. I hate the overwhelming intrusion of the federal government into nearly every facet of our lives. But as long as the tools are there, why not use them? And at least in the areas of immigration and the military, the federal government derives its power expressly from the Constitution.
Posted by: Larry Hawk | Sep 19, 2007 8:20:16 PM