SUPREME COURT Current cases

On the U.S. Supreme Court agenda:
The Supreme Court appeared ready Tuesday to rule against colleges that want to limit military recruiting on campus to protest the Pentagon's policy on gays. New Chief Justice John Roberts and other court members signaled support for a law that says schools that accept federal money also have to accommodate military recruiters. The justices seemed concerned about hindering a Defense Department need to fill its ranks when the nation is at war. "There's the right in the Constitution to raise a military," Roberts said. Law school campuses have become the latest battleground over the "don't ask, don't tell" policy allowing gay men and women to serve in the military only if they keep their sexual orientation to themselves. A group of law schools and professors had sued the Pentagon, claiming their free-speech rights are being violated because they are forced to associate with military recruiters or promote their campus appearances.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that states have the power to tax fuel sold on Indian reservations. In a 7-2 vote, the high court said Kansas can tax distributors who sell fuel at an Indian-owned and operated gas station near the Prairie Band Potawatomi tribe's casino. Most of the Nation Station's fuel customers are patrons of the casino, which is 15 miles north of Topeka, Kan. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said the Denver-based 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was wrong in ruling that the tax violated tribal sovereignty.
In a case that could affect lawsuits alleging discrimination in contracting, a Nevada businessman urged the Supreme Court on Tuesday to let him sue Domino's Pizza for racial discrimination even though the chain did not have a contract with him individually. John McDonald says Domino's failed to honor its 1997 contracts with his company, JWM Investments Inc., because he is black. Domino's had contracted with the company to build four pizza franchises in the Las Vegas area. Domino's denies racial discrimination was involved. Company officials have accused McDonald of causing delays and failing to hold up his end of the deal. At issue before the Supreme Court was not whether McDonald was the target of discrimination. Instead, justices confronted the legal question of whether McDonald could bring the suit as an individual when it was his company that had a contract with Domino's.