Volokh on Solomon and Perspective
I spent a good bit of this weekend discussing various gender rights issues with a very charming young lady from a California law school, who was in town to attend the Lavender Law conference at Fordham.
As a result, the Solomon Amendment came up again, as it seems to be doing more and more frequently in the blogosphere, law schools, and the newspaper. The 'wisdom of Solomon' is certainly being called into question as never before.
Which is why I was happy Prof. Volokh linked to his old article on Solomon and perspective. I've remembered this one ever since I read it, on the basis of practicality alone:
Some boycotts are purely instrumental: They aim to make things costly for some entity, so that the entity changes its ways to avoid those costs. But surely this isn't the issue here. If the military changes its policy, it won't be because they're having a slightly harder time recruiting lawyers; the boycott just can't make that sort of practical difference. What's more, officers coming from (say) Yale Law School would likely be more tolerant of homosexuality than the average officer. As a purely practical matter, discouraging Yalies from joining the military may make the military slightly less gay-rights-friendly.So, of, course the boycott isn't really about practical questions — it's about morality and symbolism.
Indeed, one would think if you wanted to change the military as a system, your best bet (if you're straight but sympathetic) would be to join JAG. Certainly military experience might teach some campaigners the wisdom of not ceding a field to one's enemies.
Comments
Posted by: Len Cleavelin | October 20, 2003 04:39 PM
Posted by: A. Rickey | October 20, 2003 04:48 PM
Posted by: JP | March 26, 2005 04:40 PM