Equal Access
I've heard that public school districts have been sued for allowing military recruiters access to schools while denying such access to persons who hold different views about war and military service. What have been the outcomes of these lawsuits?
There have been several such lawsuits. The good news is that they have been successful. Some degree of increased access to schools has been granted to persons and groups with alternative views.
Typically young people are besieged by military recruiters in many ways - visits to schools, classrooms, and guidance counselors' offices; recruiter participation in school-sponsored activities (such as career days and athletic events); Army Cinema vans; adventure vans; in-school multimedia displays; partnerships (such as "adopt-a-school"); and phone calls, letters, and home visits to students based on contact information obtained from school administrators. Unfortunately it is also typical for community groups that have attempted to provide some balance to be denied such access.
In the 1980s several of these groups took school districts to court. Here is a sampling of the most significant decisions:
Palm Beach, Florida (Vogt v. School Board of Palm Beach County) - A local peace group was granted the right to have draft counseling material placed in guidance counselors' offices, but was denied access to school-sponsored career day events. The rationale for the latter part of the decision is that the military is offering a job, but peace groups are not.
Chicago, Illinois (Clergy and Laity Concerned v. Chicago Board of Education) - A local religious peace group was granted the same degree of access as recruiters.
San Diego, California (San Diego CARD v. Grossmont Union High School District) - Local activists were granted the right to place ads in school newspapers. The court ruled that the subject of military service is "controversial and political in nature." When a school permits military recruitment and selective service advertisements to be placed in papers, other groups can publish materials that address the subject from another viewpoint.
Atlanta, Georgia (Searcey v. Harris) - An Atlanta peace organization won the right to have access to career days, school bulletin boards, and counselors' offices. The court stated that the school district cannot deny school access to peace groups based on their disapproval of a group's views.
These lawsuits have had a broader impact beyond their jurisdictions. Some school districts in areas not covered by the court rulings have decided to grant increased access based on precedents set in these cases.
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