The justices unanimously upheld a government policy of threatening to cut off federal funds, in some cases hundreds of millions of dollars, from universities that don't provide equal access. The ruling reversed a lower court decision said the policy violated university speech and associational rights.

``A military recruiter's mere presence on campus does not violate a law school's right to associate, regardless of how repugnant the law school considers the recruiter's message,'' Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote for the court.

The dispute centered on the so-called Solomon Amendment, first enacted by Congress in 1994 to pressure universities into allowing military recruiters on campus. The Bush administration gave the law renewed emphasis after the 2001 terrorist attacks, insisting that military representatives get the same treatment as other recruiters. Congress later wrote that equal-access requirement into law.

A coalition of 36 law schools sued to challenge the equal- access policy, saying the schools have campus policies of not assisting employers who discriminate based on race, sex or sexual orientation. The law schools argued that, at a minimum, they shouldn't have to actively help military recruiters by distributing their literature or arranging interviews with students.

Roberts said the schools ``attempted to stretch a number of First Amendment doctrines well beyond the sort of activities these doctrines protect.''