Ameliorative Measures

Although the AALS has not prescribed any specific ameliorative measures for schools that are in technical breach of its Regulation 6.19, the Section's Executive Committee has issued a memorandum to all deans of all member and fee paying schools on amelioration, and it has also issued a report in September 1998 and December 1998 containing recommendations for ameliorative measures.  The general approach is that law schools allowing military access should strive for full, but minimal compliance.

These are summarized below:

  • Placing a "warning" on all advertising and informational materials related to military recruitment placed on law school premises.  

The Section recommends the following formulation of words:

 "WARNING - The US Armed Forces and JAG violate this Law School's non-discrimination policy in their hiring practices.  In compliance with the Association of American Law Schools' rules, employers who violate this Law School's non-discrimination policy are normally denied access to on-campus interviewing facilities. Regrettably, and under the threat of the withdrawl of federal funds to this University posed by federal law under the Solomon Amendment, this Law School is making a limited exception to the US Armed Forces and JAG."

  • Sending a letter from deans to students, detailing the history of the school's nondiscrimination policies; the enactment of the Solomon amendments; the change of campus policies in response; and the commitment to creating a hospitable educational environment for all students
  • Sending letters from law faculty to members of Congress, protesting the military's policy of discriminating against gays and lesbians, expressing disapproval of the Solomon amendments, and asking that they repeal the Solomon-Pombo amendment
  • Establishing a bulletin board on which to encourage faculty and students to express their views about military policies
  • Hosting student forums at which students and others can discuss discrimination by the military;
  • Establishing a "Safe Zone" program which teaches faculty, staff, and students about sexual orientation and trains them to respond sensitively to the concerns of gays and lesbians;
  • Actively supporting gay and lesbian student organizations;
  • Funding students to attend the annual Lavender Law conferences, allowing them to establish networking connections with many lawyers throughout the nation who are openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual;
  • Exploring possibilities for fund exchanges within the university to see whether exposure to Solomon Amendment sanction might be reduced to a level at which the school could resume application of its nondiscrimination policy to military recruiters;
  • Establishing a permanent faculty-student-staff task force to develop and implement a series of active institutional and individual counter-measures;
  • Participating in legal and political challenges both to the Solomon Amendment and the policy of discrimination by the military;
  • Providing funding and support for an annual symposium on the issues raised by the Solomon Amendment;
  • Purchasing tickets for a fund-raising event each year for a gay and lesbian legal organization.
  • Career Services or Placement Office:

    Each law school should have a formal, written policy that authorizes and directs the Career Services Office to:
  • manage the time, staff and facilities of that office with the objective of maximizing efficiency in the use of interviewing rooms and time slots;
  • schedule interviews in rooms not located in the core facility, as warranted by the school’s logistical and substantive considerations or preferences;
  • prioritize and manage the scheduling of interviews among employers along a range of levels or forms that accord to that particular school’s needs, interests or preferences and pursuant to AALS policy.
  • work with students, attorneys, alumni and faculty to identify appropriate employment opportunities for sexual minority students specifically.  That office should provide alternative services specifically tailored to the needs of its LGBT students that presently are not provided, and that such services then be promptly funded and consistently provided.  The law school should instruct their  Career Services Office to prioritize this part of the ameliorative process.
  • prohibit entirely the delivery of discretionary support services to any employer who denies interviewing and/or employment opportunities to any de jure classification of students in good standing, except when the classification clearly is based on traditional hiring criteria used generally by the school and other employers (i.e., grades, activities, experience).
  • require all employers to secure actual and written permission from the career services office for: (a) every entry onto the law school campus and (b) every posting of any materials whatsoever anywhere on the law school campus; this requirement of written permission easily can be facilitated by the use of email and faxes, and it is wise procedure to establish a written record establishing that schools in fact permit "entry" and "access" in accordance with Solomon II; this requirement also is necessary to preclude the possibility of actual or perceived confusion over specific entries and postings and to enable schools to monitor military and other employer entries onto the campus.
  • charge employers who use law school resources "reasonable" fees for use of law school staff, facilities and services, but that permits the waiver of all such fees for all employers who certify truthfully and in writing to the law school that they do not discriminate on the basis of any category referenced in AALS, law school, university, and/or state or local nondiscrimination policies.
  • coordinate in advance the on-campus recruitment of all military branches so that they occur on the same day.
  • Law schools should engage in local and regional opportunities to support LGBT rights. For example, local domestic partner and/or nondiscrimination initiatives. Such support can range from allowing community groups to use law school facilities to faculty resolutions in favor of such or similar initiatives. Whenever feasible, support of all types should be offered to help promote a discrimination-free profession and community. These opportunities can be managed on a case-by-case basis but, as a basic principle, law school policy should embrace this final type of amelioration to ensure maximum fulfillment of the duty to ameliorate.

    This is not an exhaustive list.  Law schools are encouraged to use their imagination and creativity in meeting the minimum requirements of Solomon and to create a supportive environment for its LGBT students.