Free Speech at Public Universities?
WASHINGTON—Conservative and liberal justices on the Supreme Court dueled verbally over whether a student religious group has a constitutional right to receive state college funds while excluding homosexuals and others who violate its beliefs.
The case, argued Monday, stems from San Francisco, where the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law says its policy requires that student groups seeking benefits such as school funding or preferred access to meeting rooms admit any interested student.
Hastings refused to accept the Christian Legal Society as a registered student group because, starting in 2004, the organization has held members to a “statement of faith” prohibiting “fornication, adultery and homosexual conduct.”
The society sued, contending that the Hastings antidiscrimination policy violated its First Amendment right to associate with those it chooses and to select members and officers committed to promoting its beliefs. Lower courts agreed with Hastings, setting up a Supreme Court argument with both sides represented by lawyers who gained prominence during the administration of President George W. Bush.
Libertarians would resolve this dispute by getting rid of public universities. The First Amendment constrains governments, not private parties, so Hastings’ anti-discriminiation rules would raise no constitutional issues if imposed by a private university.
Categories: My Blog
Edward
http://tinyurl.com/y5dnrl5
A Supreme Court case is dealing with a Christian group at a law school that doesn’t think they should be forced to include gays.
I’m not sure why you need or are deserving of other people’s money to have a Christian Bible study group at college. Do it with your own money if any is needed. Meet in either an unused classroom or a public area. That way, you have every right to exclude without the theatrical absurdity of politics.
I think the legal court case is pretty silly. In the article, the comments by Justice Scalia and Alito are poor and the ones by Justice Stephens and Sotomayor are even worse. I sometimes quote Robert Bork in criticizing the landmark Roe vs Wade decision by saying “there was not a shred of legal reasoning” in Justice Blackmun’s majority opinion back in 1973. Likewise, where was the legal reasoning in anything those Justices said?
But what I really find interesting, whom I’d really like to chastise is the Christians that excluded the gays. Are they gathering to worship the Jesus in the Bible? The Jesus that hung out with the most wicked, morally degenerate people he could find? Find me one time when Jesus turned someone down because they were sinners. Hypocrites! Maybe they should take the cross out of their eyes, stick this legal case up where the good Lord split them, and scrap this group think mentality so they can start to imitate their spiritual hero who loved everyone around him.
Kaycee
What a neat atircle. I had no inkling.
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