The Supreme Court has decided Rumsfeld v. FAIR, the Solomon Amendment case, and has reversed the Third Circuit and upheld the statute in a 21-page opinion by Chief Justice Roberts. The vote was 8-0, with Justice Alito not participating. From the conclusion of the opinion:
In this case, FAIR has attempted to stretch a number of First Amendment doctrines well beyond the sort of activities these doctrines protect. The law schools object to having to treat military recruiters like other recruiters, but that regulation of conduct does not violate the First Amendment. To the extent that the Solomon Amendment incidentally affects expression, the law schoolsÂ’’ effort to cast themselves as just like the schoolchildren in Barnette, the parade organizers in Hurley, and the Boy Scouts in Dale plainly overstates the expressive nature of their activity and the impact of the Solomon Amendment on it, while exaggerating the reach of our First Amendment precedents.
Thanks to Howard for the link.
UPDATE: This outcome wasn’t hard to predict, but I thought I would note that my crystal ball was pretty much right on this one. From May 2005: “Gazing into my crystal ball, I predict that the Court will reverse. I don’t think it will be close, either: maybe 9-0, with a concurrence or two.” No concurrences were filed, but then the new Chief Justice wasn’t on the bench when I made the prediction.