Richard M. Esenberg: Debating Christian Legal Society v. Martinez

Richard M. Esenberg writing at the Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog: “Hastings says that the educational purpose of their forum requires, not only diversity among groups, but within groups. I don’t believe the latter. Hastings student groups often have charters that require voting members to adhere to the ideals of organizations. (One, La Raza, even had racial requirements.) Although the parties have stipulated that this is Hastings policy, it seems clearly to have been an expedience contrived for litigation, suggesting that it is hardly essential to the law school’s educational mission. The former is belied by the fact that the policy discriminates against groups organized to advance a particular point of view (one might call them ‘creedal groups’). It seems weak tea to say that Hastings permits student groups to express all manners of views but won’t allow them to exercise associational freedom in the task of advancing those viewpoints.”