Miers supported affirmative action: paper

Reuters ^ | 10/22/05 | Reuters

[USPatriette]

"LOL. Spin it baby!"

You do realize that this level of snottiness only makes it harder for the White House to do what you seem to think you want them to do.

[USPatriette]

"Do you actually think that if she found a cause for sex and race set asides in private she would not find a reason to do the same in the public arena of the Supreme Court?"

I think the hysteria over some of her political views shows the "we only care about her judicial philosophy" claim to be pretty bogus.

[Wuli]

A "conservative" CEO would not have the multicultural goals, so it would not be an issue - unless like Miers you sought to make it an issue.

The idea that merit, not skin color, is from where you should achieve your success is not simply a "legal" matter, it is a moral matter, throughout society. It is no less pernicious in the body politic when companies and associations do it than when government enforces it.

The only morally legitimate place for proper consideration of the issue is that when looking for candidates hiring officials should not be discriminating on race, gender and ethnic origin in terms of who they are willing to consider - end of "non-discriminatory" requirement. As an adjunct, officials can be sure that they are casting their net wide enough, in a non-disciminatory manner.

But, once the candidates are found, merit should determine the choice, not "affirmative action" goals. If your "affirmative action" of not discriminating against candidates was truly not discriminatory, then, based on merit you will be selecting "minorty" candidates from time to time, without any goal setting. And, having been selected based on merit, they will handsomely "represent" their "minority" group (to those who need to look for such things).

There has been a great study done that looked at affirmative action in the top tier law schools. What it found is that it is costing many "minority" students the possibility of a carreer in law.

For those who enter the top tier law schools as an "affirmative action" choice, the drop-out rate, the rate at which they fail their major courses and the rate at which they fail to pass the bar is much higher for them than it is for "minorities" that enter lower echelon law schools. Also, ten years later it is the "minority" students that entered the lower echelon law schools who are earning more money and are further along in their legal careers, at higher rates than the "affirmative action" students that graduated from the top tier schools.

These are statistics of affirmative action students and they do not include "minorities" who had really great college-prep high schools, graduated high-up in their class and entered a top tier law school based on academic merit - of which there are many.

The study was able to identify the "affirmative action" role in the enrollment and look specifically at the experience of those for whom that role applied; and compare it to students who avoided the affirmative action pull to a "higher" school.

The author's advice was that students should be wary of succumbing to the pressure of the affirmative action enticements at the top tier schools, if their high school experience and academic performance have really not prepared them for those top schools.

Neither should law firms be playing social-scientist with peoples lives.

Harriet Miers was wrong then and she will be wrong for the court. The benevolent utopian impluse is a strong one and not likely one she will resist; having not resisted it in the past.

[em2vn]

There is no hysteria. Hysteria may be a good liberal spin word but it won't work when she is being called to account for her view of the constitution.

[linkinpunk]

she is being called to account for her view of the constitution

Please show me where she claims the Constitution requires corporate affirmative action goals.

[em2vn]

Such a charge wasn't made. The point is that as a lawyer she endorsed sex and racial set asides within the Texas Bar Association. If she had a firm grasp of the constitution she would have known that such set asides are unconstitutional and should be opposed.

[linkinpunk]

Where does the Constitution state that private individuals cannot set goals to hire minorites?

Ronald Reagan supported voluntary affirmative action.

What's the big deal?

[indianrightwinger]

Are you seriously suggesting that she is in the Reagan mold?

I did not see an iota of proof of that.

Yes, she is probably no longer as liberal as she was before.

[flashbunny]

" I don't see any evidence that she supported government forced quotas."

yet she supported affirmative action as a part of the government WRT the fire department when she held local office.

Also, there are reports from white house insiders that she was in favor of the quota system in the recent supreme court case involving the state of michigan university admissions.

She has a definite pattern of behavior. Not a very conservative one at that.

If this was a clinton appointee who did the same things, what would you think of them as a nominee? Would you still be rationalizing her behavior?

[em2vn]

The big deal is that we are talking about a Supreme Court Judge not about a business deciding to implement affirmative action programs on its own design.
Harriet Mier's words about wanting the Texas Bar Association to reflect the population of the state should be a tip off to her view on set asides. If she felt such a view was in conflict with the constitution she would not have advise such a position unless she chose to act counter to the constitution.
In either case she demonstrated herself to be outside of the order of a strict constructionist advocate of the constitution.

[ellery]

How about racial quotas for elected officials, aka government-mandated, taxpayer-funded quotas?

Miers was a councilwoman when Dallas was sued for not having "proportional representation" of minorities on council (i.e., they hadn't gerrymandered enough safe African American and Hispanic districts. Miers testified in this case; the the transcript is here: http://www.opinionjournal.com/best/miers.pdf

Basically, she seemed as if she was trying to have it both ways. She (rightfully, I believe) made the point that race differences are often superseded by economic and geographical differences, and even says she opposes the philosophy of drawing lines just to create minority districts.

But then she says this (page 56):
"I certainly hope that if the system, if the 10-4-1 system is the system that we're going to do business under, that the lines be drawn to accomplish the purpose that it was designed to accomplish, which is the increase of minority presence on the Council, which is important."

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And this (page 42/43):
Q: In your appointments you have occasion to make in the future do you intend to reflect ethnic diversity in those appointments?

A: I absolutely do. I feel that the reflective nature of those boards and commissions is critical to the health of the community.

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And this (page 49): "The daycare moeny that was deleted I have asked to be restored because they principally benefit women and minorities in my view."

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And this (page 36): "I don't think there is any question that creating single-members districts resulted in minorities being elected when otherwise they had historically not been." (Q: Okay.) "And that is a distinct advantage of the system."

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And this (speaking about her own at-large seat, page 35):
"I think the community had recognized that the at-large seats had been occupied by white representatives from north Dallas and that that was not right and shouldn't happen."

Q: Okay. And had a -- if we can use the term viable minority candidate filed for the position you filed for prior to the time you filed, you would not have filed, is that correct?

A. That's correct.

Q. And the reason for that, I take it, is that you recognize that historically you would have had a substantial advantage over that minority candidate in the race, isn't that correct?

A. No, I wanted to see minority representatives elected at large in this community. And I felt like the time was right that such a candidate could be elected, and I had other things to do.

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On pages 11-12, she also discussed her vote in favor of having Dallas police patrol a local lake as a "symbolic" statement to the South (disadvantaged, minority) section of the city, so that they would feel like part of the larger city. This, even though another locality had offered to handle these patrols at no cost to the city.

In my view, these are simply not the words and actions of someone who believes in color- and gender-blind, merit-based hiring in government or the private sector.

[ellery]

Bush is the one who claimed that Miers would not change over time, and would be the same person 20 years from now as she is today.

[Prince Charles]

Well NooB, get used to it.