Ahh, yes, the 'old "unique historical circumstances" defense. It's not allowed under the Constitution, but I [the dumb judge]think my finding of "unique historical circumstances" is paramount to the Constitution.
This is a private school?...........
What's the government doing regulating private schools?
The issue considered here is a significant one in our statutory civil rights law: May a private, nonsectarian, commercially operated school, which receives no federal funds, purposefully exclude a student qualified for admission solely because he is not of pure or part aboriginal blood? The parties agree that this is a case of first impression in our circuit.
The plaintiff, John Doe, appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants, the Kamehameha Schools and the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate and its individual trustees. He argues that he was denied entry to the Kamehameha Schools because of his race in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981, which forbids racial discrimination in the making and enforcement of contracts. For the following reasons, we agree with Doe and find that the Schools’ admissions policy, which operates in practice as an absolute bar to admission for those of the non-preferred race, constitutes unlawful race discrimination in violation of § 1981. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s decision granting summary judgment to the Kamehameha Schools.
***...the three campuses, which are partly funded by a trust now worth $6.2 billion. ***
Partly funded by a trust. Does this mean that the government also funds the school? If so, I can only say that NO school should have started taking money from the government years ago. True, there wouldn't be any luxury swimming pools; money for the football team to travel; etc but most schools would have the necessities and the RIGHT to teach patriotism.
There should be no need whatsoever to prove "need" or any other special circumstances in order for a private school to be able to exclude people from attending. This is no different than forcing an all-male private club to admit women. This is just one more example of the courts exanding government into the everyday lives of private citizens. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will overturn this decision, but it is a sad day when our freedoms depend on the whim of a few people in robes.
A good question for conservative Senators (what few there are):
How would John Roberts rule on this?
I am against seperating people by race BUT this is a private school and they should be able to determine their own criteria.
Of course, this has long been struck down for all white or all males in clubs, groups, etc for some time, so I guess the dog done turned back on itself.
Predictibly, liberals will be pissed off, but fail to see that NO ONE else has been allowed to do this for some time now. Basically the government getting involved in private organizations business ONCE again.
Holy Cow! Under the terms of this ruling, the American Indian College Fund, NAACP scholarships, and a whole slew of other racially limited programs are now ILLEGAL because they constitute the establishment of a contract limited by race. It also has interesting implications for religious schools since religious discrimination is as federally protected as race. Under the terms of this ruling, a private Amish school would be powerless to keep a fundamentalist Muslim, or even a satan worshipper, from attending.
Something tells me that the judge didn't quite think this one through.
You may as well stop reading it at this point.
This is a PRIVATE school. They should be able to admit students based on any criteria they want.