Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, Inc.

Opinion

 [*51] 

 [**1302]  Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court.

LEdHN[7A][7A] When law schools began restricting the access of military recruiters to their students because of disagreement with the Government's policy on homosexuals in the military, Congress responded by enacting ] the Solomon Amendment. See 10 U.S.C. § 983 (2000 ed. and Supp. IV). That provision specifies that if any part of an institution of higher education denies military recruiters access equal to that provided other recruiters, the entire [****9]  institution would lose certain federal funds. The law schools responded by suing, alleging that the Solomon Amendment infringed their First Amendment freedoms of speech and association. The District Court disagreed but was reversed by a divided panel of the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, which ordered the District Court to enter a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Solomon Amendment. We granted certiorari.

 [*52]  [***167]  I

LEdHN[7B][7B] Respondent Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. (FAIR), is an association of law schools and law faculties. App. 5. Its declared mission is "to promote academic freedom, support educational institutions in opposing discrimination and vindicate the rights of institutions of higher education." Id., at 6. FAIR members have adopted policies expressing their opposition to discrimination based on, among other factors, sexual orientation. Id., at 18. They would like to restrict military recruiting on their campuses because they object to the policy Congress has adopted with respect to homosexuals in the military. See 10 U.S.C. § 654. ¹ The Solomon [**1303]  Amendment, however, forces institutions to choose between enforcing [****10]  their nondiscrimination policy against military recruiters in this way and continuing to receive specified federal funding.

In 2003, FAIR sought a preliminary injunction against enforcement of the Solomon Amendment, which at that time--it has since been amended--prevented the Department of Defense (DOD) from providing specified federal funds to any institution of higher education "that either prohibits, or in effect prevents" military recruiters "from gaining entry to campuses." § 983(b). ² FAIR considered the DOD's interpretation  [*53]  of this provision particularly objectionable.  Although the statute required only "entry to campuses," the Government--after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001--adopted an informal policy of "'requir[ing] universities to provide [****11]  military recruiters access to students equal in quality and scope to that provided to other recruiters.'"  291 F. Supp. 2d 269, 283 (NJ 2003).  Prior to the adoption of this policy, some law schools sought to promote their nondiscrimination policies while still complying with the Solomon Amendment by having military recruiters interview on the undergraduate campus.  Id., at 282. But under the equal access policy, military recruiters had to be permitted to interview at the law schools, if other recruiters did so.

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