The Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging the constitutionality of women’s exclusion from military registration. See National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System.
University of Minnesota Law School Professor Jill Hasday is available to provide expert comment.
Jill Hasday, J.D.
“In 1981, the Supreme Court held in Rostker v. Goldberg that male-only military registration was constitutional because the military banned women from serving in combat. The Court’s argument in Rostker has lost its foundation. Since 2016, every position in the military—including service in ground combat—has been open to women. Female servicemembers have fought in combat with great success and popular support.
The Supreme Court should strike down women’s exclusion from military registration. This exclusion is inconsistent with the overarching principles that have guided the constitutional law on sex discrimination for decades.
If the Court is unwilling to act, it is time for Congress to finally open military registration to men and women alike.”
Jill Hasday is a Distinguished McKnight University Professor and the Centennial Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. She teaches and writes about constitutional law, family law, and sex equality. In 2019, she testified before National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service to explain why women’s exclusion from military registration is unconstitutional. She has also written on the subject. See Jill Elaine Hasday, Fighting Women: The Military, Sex, and Extrajudicial Constitutional Change, 93 Minn. L. Rev. 96 (2008).
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