Murky Opinions
James at OTB says,
Yep: States can discriminate on account of race as long as they are well intentioned and don’t use numbers to do it. Essentially, this is just a restatement of Powell’s murky lone opinion in Bakke but one that gives a stamp of approval to a specific program.
That’s exactly the point of this decision. The majority clarified and upheld Bakke and gave approval to the Michigan program as presented. It is a muddled standard, but certainly less muddled than Bakke. In that respect, this was a very good decision by the Court, removing some of the ambiguity on affirmative action and giving guidance to those who desire legal affirmative action programs.
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June 24th, 2003 at 9:28 am
Kris,
I agree that it’s an improvement over Bakke, since it at least is coherently written and has a majority decision. I still think it’s absurd on its face as a matter of constitutional interpretation.
June 24th, 2003 at 9:33 am
I’m glad you’ll at least concede that point. Many don’t seem to agree with the “coherently” statement. As for it’s absurdity, the Court has a history of absurd decisions, but many of those were the right decisions for the times.