Expressive Association and the Ideal of the University in the Solomon Amendment Litigation

Tobias Barrington Wolff, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School
Andrew Koppelman, Northwestern University School of Law

25 Soc. Phil. & Pol'y 92 (July 2008).

Abstract

This article offers a critical examination of the First Amendment expressive association arguments that law faculty pressed in suits challenging the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment - the federal statute that requires educational institutions that receive federal funds to grant fully equal access to military recruiters despite the recruiters' inability to comply with law school non-discrimination policies. The article argues that these First Amendment claims were flawed, constituted a threat to important progressive values, and were deeply inconsistent with the ideal that should underlie an institution of higher learning.