In mid-July Atlantic Legal filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court of the United States in Rumsfeld v. FAIR.
The case involves a challenge to the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment, which provides that certain federal funds may not be granted to colleges and universities that do not give military recruiters the same access to on-campus recruiting as the school provides to other outside employers.
A group of law school faculty members, styling themselves the Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, challenged the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment on First Amendment grounds. After losing in the District Court, they prevailed before a divided panel of the Third Circuit, and the Supreme Court granted certiorari .
Co-counseling with Greenberg Traurig, our brief urges that the constitutionality of the Solomon Amendment be upheld. We argued that on-campus recruiting is essential to our national defense, that on-campus recruiting is necessary to maintain an all-volunteer military, especially to recruit highly qualified specialists in many fields, including law and medicine, and that Congress, not the Judiciary, has the Constitutional responsibility for ‘raising a military’ and has explicitly made the considered judgment that on-campus recruiting is vital to achieving that goal.
We were privileged to represent 29 top-ranking former senior U.S. military officers and civilian Department of Defense officials. They include, among others, former Secretaries of Defense James Schlesinger and William Perry and former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Generals Hugh Shelton and John Shalikashvili. A complete list of our clients follows:
Admiral Charles S. Abbot, retired 4-star, Deputy Commander, European Command (1998-2000), and Commander, U.S. 6 th Fleet (1996-98).
Lieutenant General Daniel W. Christman, retire 3-star, Superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1996-2001).
General Wesley K. Clark, retired 4-star, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (1997-2000), and Commander in Chief, U.S. Southern Command (1996-97).
Admiral Archie Clemins, retired 4-star, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (1996-99).
Lieutenant General Lawrence P. Farrell, retired 3-star, Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Programs U.S. Air Force (1997-98), and Vice Commander Air Force Material Command (1995-97).
General Ronald R. Fogelman, retired 4-star, Air Force Chief of Staff (1994-97) with overall responsibility for organizing, training and leading the 750,000 active duty, Guard, Reserve and civilian members, and Commander in Chief of U.S. Transcom (1992-94).
General Ronald H. Griffith, retired 4-star, Army Vice Chief of Staff (1995-97), Army Inspector General (1991-95), and Commanding General, 1 st Armored Division (1989-91).
General William W. Hartzog, retired 4-star, Commanding General Army Training and Doctrine Command (1994-98), Deputy Commanding General, Atlantic Command (1993-94), and Commanding General, 1 st Infantry Division (1991-93).
General Joseph P. Hoar, retired Marine 4-star, Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command (1991-94).
Admiral Gregory Johnson, retired 4-star, Commander, Naval Forces Europe and Commander, Allied Forces Southern Europe (2001-2004), Commander U.S. Sixth Fleet, and Commander Allied Striking and Support Forces Southern Europe (2000-2001).
General P. X. Kelley, retired 4-star, 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps (1983-87), with overall responsibility for organizing, training and leading the Corps.
General Paul J. Kern, retired 4-star, Commanding General, Army Material Command (2001-04), Senior Advisor for Army Research, Development, and Acquisition (1997-2001), and Commander, 4 th Infantry Division (1996-97).
General Carl E. Mundy, Jr., retired 4-star, 30th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps (1991-95),with overall responsibility for organizing, training and leading the Corps, and Marine Corps Director of Personnel Procurement.
Lieutenant General Tad J. Oelstrom, retired 3-star, Superintendent, U.S. Air Force Academy (1997-2000), and currently Director, National Security Program, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
General Glenn K. Otis, retired 4-star, Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Europe, and concurrently Commander of NATO = s Central Army Group (1983-88), and commander U. S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (1981-83).
General J. H. Binford Peay III, retired 4-star, Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command (1994-97), Army Vice Chief of Staff (1993-94), and Commanding General, 101 st Airborne Division (1989-91).
Honorable William J. Perry, 19 th Secretary of Defense (1994-97), Deputy Secretary of Defense (1993-94) and Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (1977-81), and currently a Professor of Engineering at Stanford University.
Admiral Joseph W. Prueher, retired 4-star, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command (1996-99), Commandant of Midshipmen, U.S. Naval Academy, and U.S. Ambassador to China (1999-2001).
Honorable Joe R. Reeder, 14 th Under Secretary of the Army (1993-97), had oversight responsibility for admission criteria for the U. S. Military Academy and the ROTC programs at our nation = s universities.
General Robert W. RisCassi, retired 4-star, Commander in Chief, United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command Republic of Korea (1990-93), Army Vice Chief of Staff (1988-90), and Commanding General, 9 th Infantry Division (1983-85).
Honorable James R. Schlesinger, 12 th Secretary of Defense (1973-74), Secretary of Energy (1977-79), Director, Central Intelligence Agency (1973). Dr. Schlesinger is a former member, Board of Overseers, Harvard College.
General John M.D. Shalikashvili, retired 4-star, 13 th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1993-97), and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (1992-92).
General Hugh Shelton, retired 4-star, 14 th Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff (1997-2001), and Commander in Chief, U.S. Special Operations Command (1996-97).
General Eric K. Shinseki, retired 4-star, Army Chief of Staff (1999-2003), responsible for organizing, training, and leading over one million active duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian members worldwide.
Lieutenant General Theodore G. Stroup, Jr., retired 3-star, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, U.S. Army (1994-96).
General Gordon R. Sullivan, retired 4-star, Army Chief of Staff (1991-95), responsible for organizing, training and leading over one million active duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian members worldwide.
General John H. Tilelli, retired 4-star, Commander in Chief, United Nations Command and Combined Forces Command Republic of Korea (1996-99), Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces Command (1995-96), Army Vice Chief of Staff (1994-95), and Commanding General, 1 st Cavalry Division during the Gulf War.
Lieutenant General Frederick E. Vollrath, retired 3-star, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, U.S. Army (1996-98), currently vice president for human resources of a Fortune 150 corporation.
General Anthony Zinni, retired Marine 4-star, Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command (1997-2001), and U.S. Special Peace Envoy to the Middle East (2002).
To view Atlantic Legal’s brief, click here.
