WASHINGTON — Attorneys for the Alliance Defense Fund are applauding yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, noting that the decision and the language contained in the court opinion advances ADF’s defense of First Amendment principles on university campuses.
“With Chief Justice Roberts at the helm, our nation’s highest court has clearly articulated First Amendment principles in this ruling, relying on the clear text of the Constitution,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jordan Lorence. “The language in this decision supports all that ADF is doing in our university nondiscrimination cases.”
The case of Rumsfeld v. FAIR involved a group of universities suing the federal government, saying the Solomon Amendment violates their free association rights to ban military recruiters on campus. But Lorence pointed out–in accordance with the ruling yesterday–that First Amendment free association rights were intended for citizens and not for the state.
The Supreme Court’s ruling essentially says that the government, such as a state university, cannot force private organizations such as religious student groups on campus to accept as members or officers those who disagree with the group’s viewpoint. The ruling also says that the Constitution requires the government to respect the rights of private student organizations, and that state universities cannot use nondiscrimination policies to violate students’ First Amendment rights.
“When state universities offer benefits like the space on the university website or a place to meet on campus, the university cannot limit access to those privileges in a way that violates the freedom of association,” said Lorence. “This decision in Rumsfeld v. FAIR has a tremendous positive impact on the legal battles on campuses nationwide in which ADF is defending the First Amendment rights of students.”
The Alliance Defense Fund and the Christian Legal Society had filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court for this case in July 2005.
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
Related Press Releases
July 19, 2005
