A Victory for Common Sense
The Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that universities accepting federal funding must allow military recruiters on campus. The universities felt that they should have free speech protection in a dispute over the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
The universities were certainly free to stop accepting public funds. They were also free to make known their protest of the military’s policy. That should have been the end of the story. But they wanted to take it beyond the extreme, into an area that would defy common sense.
The government provides certain stipulations on distribution of public funds (which it should) in other areas, and this is no different. Montana, for many years, did not want to comply with the federally mandated 55 mph maximum speed limit. They were free to do so. They were also free to be denied federal highway funding.
Common sense would argue that if you don’t agree with a policy, you are free to do so. You are free to speak your mind. But if someone hands you a check and stipulates conditions upon acceptance, you can’t say you should be entitled to the money without the conditions. And that is what these schools were trying to do.
“Accommodating the military’s message does not affect the law schools’ speech, because the schools are not speaking when they host interviews and recruiting receptions,” Roberts wrote.
He added, “Nothing about recruiting suggest the law schools agree with any speech by recruiters, and nothing in (federal law) restricts what the law schools may say about the military’s policies.”
Several justices made the point that if the schools did not agree with the government policy, they should have stopped accepting government funds. The unanimous desicion is a victory for common sense, for free speech, and for the Constitution.
[ Supreme Court Upholds Campus Military Recruiting ]
[ Justices uphold military recruiting on campuses ]
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