Professors of Pretense

Last week, George Will added insult to injury for the Professors of Pretense, the law professors challenging the Solomon Amendment.

I wonder how many of these professors teach constitutional law? I vividly remember my Con Law professor saying that when it comes to the spending power, Congress can add pretty much any strings it wants to the money, including requiring recipients to do something. This is afterall how the drinking age got raised to 21 and how the speed limit was pegged at 55 for a while, Congress condititioned the receipt of federal highway money on the states taking those actions.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who, during last December's oral argument, blandly said of the schools' desire to discriminate against the military, "You are perfectly free to do that, if you don't take the money." On Monday Roberts's shredding of the law schools' arguments included a tartness that betrayed impatience with law professors who cannot understand pertinent distinctions.