Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 12, 1990 TAG: 9004120197
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATESTE
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But it is unlikely the judge will rule that day on the constitutionality of the 150-year-old school's admissions policy, a Washington and Lee University law professor said Wednesday.
"In a case that's complicated at all, a [federal] judge might take it under advisement and rule in a couple of weeks, or even months," said Alan Ides, who teaches federal jurisdiction at the Lexington college.
The schedule set Wednesday includes an April 30 deadline for briefs opposing three motions already filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke and a May 14 deadline for any replies to those briefs.
The Justice Department filed a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the all-male school on March 1, saying its admissions policy violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
A month earlier, state Attorney General Mary Sue Terry and attorneys for the private VMI Foundation Inc. contended that the federal government did not have the authority to sue VMI, and they asked the court to declare the 1,300-cadet school's admissions policy constitutional and legal.
The Justice Department, before filing its discrimination suit, asked the court to dismiss those motions. Kiser is to consider them in June.
The judge also will review requests by Gov. Douglas Wilder, the state Council of Higher Education and its director, Gordon Davies, to be dismissed as defendants in the Justice Department's suit.
Defendants listed in the suit are Wilder; the state; VMI, its board and superintendent; and the state council, its members and officers.
Wilder's office, contending that responsibility for VMI policies rests with its board, said he should be dismissed from the case because the governor has played no role "in establishing or maintaining VMI's allegedly discriminatory admissions policies."
In papers filed March 21 on Wilder's behalf, his attorneys wrote: "There is no allegation that the governor is responsible under Virginia law for operating VMI. In fact, there is no allegation that during VMI's . . . history Governor Wilder has had anything to do with the institution."
Under state law, the General Assembly controls VMI, and the board of visitors and superintendent operate the school.
by CNB