Page 2 - Practiced Law News Today

Students know that the military recruiters were going to be at harvard during that recruiting season and military recruiting went up that year, not down. so youre exactly right, that the supreme court did reject our amicas brief. again, we filed an amicas brief not attacking the constitutionality of the solomon amendment but instead saying that essentially the harvard policy complied with the solomon amendment, the supreme court rejected it 9-0, unanimously. >> but even before that the military ...

Treating them as second class citizens, bat giving them equal access because you deeply opposed that policy. why wouldnt you complain to congress and not to the dutiful men and women who put their lives on the line for america every day? >> senator session, youre of course right that the solomon amendment is law, passed by congress >> how much i honored everybody who was associated with the military, on the harvard law school campus. all that i was trying to do, was to ensure that harvard law sc...

Military. who might very much want to do that most honorable kind of service that a person can do for her country. >> thats a legitimate concern and people can disagree on that and i respect your view on that, im having difficulty with why you would take the steps of treating the military in the second class way to speak to rallies and send out e-mails, and to immediately, without legal basis, because the solomon amendment was never, at any time, not enforced as a matter of law, why would you do...

Views? certainly you dont think he was attempting to embarrass you or hurt new that process, do you? >> i love my good friend ron claim, but i guess that people should be allowed to label themselves, and thats -- you know, i dont know what that label means, and so i guess im not going to characterize it one way or the other. >> i would just say having looked at your overall record, having considered those two people who know you very well, i think you have to classify you -- i would have to clas...

Democratic administrations, and i think -- >> no, but im asking do you agree with the characterization that youre a legal progressive? >> senator sessions, i honestly dont know what that label means. ive worked in two democratic administrations, senator graham suggested yesterday, and i think hes right, that you can tell something about me and my political views from that, but as i suggested to you, that my political views are one thing, and -- >> i dont agree with you exactly that you should no...

Way i could throughout this process to make clear to all our students, not just to the veterans, but to all our students, how much i valued their service and what an incredible contribution i thought that they made to the school. >> i dont deny that you value the military. i really dont. but i do believe that the actions you took helped create a climate that was not healthy toward the military on campus. but let me ask you this: you keep referring in your e-mails and all to the military policy. ...

Employers that could not sign the antidiscrimination pledge. and the accommodation that bob worked out was that the veterans organization would instead sponsor the military recruiters. so the only thing that was at issue was essentially the sponsoring organization, whether it was the office of career services or instead, the student veterans organization. >> please let me follow up on that. but in august 26th of 2002, dean clark, your immediate predecessor, acquiesced when harvards financing had...

Equal access. isnt that right? >> senator sessions, we had gone back and done exactly what the department of defense had asked us to do prior to the time that the supreme court ruled. we had done it -- >> wait a minute. you asked them what they asked you to do after the third circuit ruled, you denied them access, they had to insist and demand that they have equal access, because the law was still in effect. you did not agree to that. you had reversed that policy and the president of the univers...