Today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Rumsfeld v. FAIR, considering whether the government may withhold funding from universities if law schools enforce their non-discrimination policies against military recruiters.

We hope the Supreme Court recognizes that the government is misapplying the Solomon Amendment and overstepping its authority. Not only is the government demanding that military recruiters be granted the special privilege to ignore non-discrimination policies meant to protect students, it is also coercing law schools into compliance by threatening funds that largely go to medical schools and schools of public health. The government has its priorities out of order. If it is truly interested in protecting the nation, it should spend less time trying to “send a message” to law schools by attaching unnecessary conditions to valuable medical research funds and instead focus on ending its discriminatory “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell” policy. The government has failed to recognize what law schools have long known: discrimination against its gay and lesbian citizens is wrong and against its interests. If it wants to recruit the “best and the brightest,” the government should end its discriminatory policies and allow qualified gay men and women to join the ranks and serve their country with pride and dignity.