What is compelled speech?
The First Amendment gives us the right to speak freely,
but it also gives us the right to remain silent.
In other words, the government cannot compel or coerce you into saying
something you don’t want to say
Based on this right, school children can’t be forced to stand
and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
If they have any grievance with the words in that pledge, in whole or
in part, the government can’t make a law that would force them
to say it.
How did the conflict arise between colleges and military recruiters
?
The conflict is over the policy in some college handbooks to not discriminate
based on sexual orientation and the military’s policy of "Don't
ask , Don't tell".
Several schools forbid discrimination on the grounds of age, race, sex
or sexual orientation.
Before allowing the recruiters on campus, the recruiters were asked
to sign and agreement that they would not discriminate based on, among
other things, sexual orientation.
As a result, many colleges would not allow the military on campus since
they felt the military’s "Don't ask, Don't
tell" policy constituted discrimination.
So how did Congress get involved, and why did this recently
end up in front of the Supreme Court.
In 1994, Congress passed the Solomon Act, which said colleges that refused
to allow military recruiters on campus would be denied federal funds.
So many colleges let recruiters back on campus but, in many cases, didn't
provide offices or the use of campus office equipment to the recruiters.
Here's where we get back to compelled speech.
Because the Solomon Act severely punished colleges who banned recruiters,
they felt that this was, in effect, compelled speech. The schools argued
that it was in effect forcing them to say that the school approved of
a discriminatory policy.
How did the Supreme Court decide?
The final decision was a unanimous 8-0 in favor of the military.
The Court felt that, as harmful as the denial of federal money might
be to the colleges, it was an option.
Also, the school's First Amendment rights were not violated because
no one was restricting their own speech. Colleges are free to hold protests,
hang signs and write editorials that clearly state their opposition to
any of the military's policies.
The Supreme Court's unanimous decision firmly establishes
the right of military recruiters to do their jobs on our college campuses.
