Free Republic

Co-authored with Ken BlackwellThe Supreme Court’s decision today in the racial preferences case Ricci v. DeStefano will be a major story. Less noticed but equally important, the Supreme Court’s decision on voting rights last week heralds a sea change in racial politics in this country. Taken with the Ricci decision, it’s clear that a new era is dawning on race in America. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of part of the Voting Rights Act on June 22. But in its opinion, the Court signaled that a massive change in voting rights was coming, and Justice Thomas took his usual...

Adam Liptak has an interesting article on Ricci v. DeStefano in the NYT. The unpublished order resolved the case without creating binding precedent for the Circuit. Perhaps this was an acceptable compromise because the panel eventually concluded that a written opinion based upon the particular facts in this case could create a problematic precedent; hard facts make bad law, etc. Yet this was not the end of the matter. Once it was clear other judges on the Circuit disagreed with the panel's disposition, a per curiam opinion was published, adopting the district court's reasoning as binding circuit precedent. Therefore, the...

The case of Ricci v. DeStefano could provide an opportunity to move our country in the direction of the genuinely color-blind society - a goal long sought by men and women of good will. President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, sits on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, where she heard the arguments for Ricci v. DeStefano, now pending before the High Court.The case has been brought by white firefighters in New Haven who were denied promotions after an examination yielded no black firefighters eligible for advancement. The city decided to throw out the test, calling its action "racially...

The incoming Obama administration will have to deal with the issue of racial preferences sooner rather than later thanks to the Supreme Court's decision today to take up an appeal in an affirmative action case, Ricci v. DeStefano. New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci and 18 others sued after the fire department failed to promote them when they scored well on the department's promotion exam. Since too few black firefighters scored high enough to justify promotions, the city threw out the exam altogether. Ricci and his co-plaintiffs - including one Hispanic argue that their promotions were denied solely because of their...