Page 7 - Solomon Amendment News Today

American people react to it. i think in his world, again, his harvard law school world, kicking the military off campus is no big deal. but i think to the american people think its a big deal, and i think this is going to endanger her confirmation. >> reporter: but her defenders say even throughout the controversy, she praised the extraordinary service of men and women in uniform and as dean reached out to veterans and that the fight was never against the military, but was about a principle. ken...

And the american association of law schools has a policy saying that those employers who discriminate in their recruitment and hiring practices should not be allowed to recruit on law school campuses. now hes exactly correct that she did not deny them access to harvard or even to harvard law school. in fact, recruiters could be there in the exact same room. but under the sponsorship of the veterans association, rather than under the sponsorship of the career services placement. now i think an ap...

Over 20-year period and on top of that, shes from harvard and she has so out of touch with middle america that she refused to let the milton campus to do recruiting. there is someone out of touch with middle america. i think that will hurt obama. >> the argument was that because of the dont ask, dont tell policy the discrimination against gays serving openly in the u.s. military, the law schools had no choice. >> well, no choice, certainly they had a choice. she is president. she could have made...

When had lost control of her car, the good news is hayden was not hurt, both of his parents went to the hospital with injuries. jane: president obamas supreme court nominee elena kagan never served as a judge and that means senators are weighing whether or not to confirm her, they wont have much of a paper trail of decisions to examine, so theyll be paying plenty of attention to other aspects of her career like her time as dean of harvard law school where she objected to recruiters of the dont a...

Youre right. there is no paper trail on this case. i spent yesterday trying to learn what i could about elena kagan. i read editorials she wrote when she was the chairman of the daily princetonian as an undergraduate of princeton, speeches shes given. opinions she drafted for justice thurgood marshall when she was his clerk. she worked for joe biden. she worked for bill clinton. she was a professor at the university of chicago law school, dean of harvard law school. theres very little paper trai...

Faculty, elena kagan, then harvards law school dean, reluctantly agreed to lift the restrictions. but added, quote, this action causes me deep distress, as i know it does a great many others. i abhor the militarys discriminatory recruitment policy. the importance of the military to our society and the extraordinary service that members of the military provide to all of the rest of us, makes this discrimination more, not less, repugnant. the solomon amendment was challenged by a group of law scho...

Elena kagan has a stealthy record. on those matters where shes been vocal, clear shes indulged her policy preferences. you refer to the solomon amendment, excluded military recruiters from campus during wartime at the same time gave access to law firms detaining guantanamo. you have someone supposedly picked because of real life experience but there isnt much experience to speak of in terms of real life. no judicial experience o. >> the lack of judicial experience already from at least her suppo...

Solomon amendment that said, no, if you dont allow the military on campus you cannot get federal money and then harvard backed down. >> let me be clear. wasnt the harvard position not to allow organizations on campus that discriminated and her reading of it was that dont ask, dont tell discriminated against gays and lesbians in the military? >> yes. thats what she felt. she felt this was discriminatory, but it was the established policy of the united states, president clintons policy and she cou...

That will give us something to look at. >> help us with our research a little bit here. you mentioned that perhaps there may be things in her writings that might be a little troubling. you used the word "troubling." what have you uncovered early in the process that might be troubling to you? >> well, the thing i was personally involved with was the solomon amendment. what happened was a number of law schools, harvard being, i think, a leader when she was there would not allow the military recrui...

People. they know these hearings on capitol hill can be contentious. youve heard her mention shes a mets fan, sit besides sonia sotomayer who is a yankees fan and get her a pin striped robe. she clerked for thurgood marshall. he called her shorty. shes 53". you see tepid responses from capitol hill and republicans. first read, there were seven republicans who voted for her as solicitor general but nearly all of them have put out statements saying, look, voting for her for solicitor again, a temp...