Category Archive

Here are some thoughts on recent news stories related to race and higher education.  First, as we await the Supreme Court’s decision in Schuette v. BAMN, consider how that case might fit in with the latest news from California on SCA 5.  That is, in the Schuette case, it is being argued that a Michigan ballot initiative banning, among other things, racial preferences in university admissions ought to be struck down as antiminority.  And yet, in California, the SCA 5 legislative effort to repeal the ban there on racial preferences in university admissions was withdrawn because of pressure from a racial …

“California voters will not be asked this year to decide whether to roll back California’s ban on racial preferences in college admissions, Assembly Speaker John A. Perez,” announced this week, according to the Sacramento Bee.  The story notes, “The move came a week after three Asian-American state senators — who had previously supported putting the question to voters — asked Perez to put a stop the measure ….” That’s great news, and here’s hoping the withdrawal is permanent.  The fact that what doomed the measure was opposition from Asian Americans is important, too, with a caveat.  An important problem with …

In case you missed it, I coauthored an op-ed this week in The Wall Street Journal on the unhappy 25th anniversary this month of a loophole left in an otherwise good Supreme Court decision, striking down racial and ethnic preferences in government contracting.  Here it is: In a landmark case 25 years ago this month, the Supreme Court struck down a municipal contracting program that gave preferential treatment to companies owned by racial and ethnic minorities. City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. was a welcome decision for equality under the law—but Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s 1989 opinion unfortunately left …

FIRST MODEL BILL (antidiscrimination based on California’s Proposition 209) CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 2014 (a) The state shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. (b) This section shall apply only to action taken after the section’s effective date. (c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prohibiting bona fide qualifications based on sex which are reasonably necessary to the normal operation of public employment, public education, or public contracting. (d) Nothing …

The federal government’s attempt to coerce private and public employers into ignoring the criminal records of prospective employees is not faring well.  Greg Abbott, Texas’s state attorney general, has filed an excellent complaint, challenging the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s “enforcement guidance” that tries to limit employers’ use of criminal-background checks in hiring.  And in EEOC v. Freeman recently, a federal district court threw out the government’s own lawsuit, noting that the “careful and appropriate use of criminal history information is an important, and in many cases essential, part of the employment process of employers throughout the United States” — …

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Schuette v. BAMN, a case in which a federal appellate court held — astonishingly — that Michigan voters somehow violated the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause by endorsing equal treatment for everyone regardless of race or sex. At issue is Proposal 2 (the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative), a 2006 ballot measure that amended the state constitution to provide that state and local government agencies (including public universities) “shall not discriminate against, or grant preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national …

Last week the Supreme Court handed down decisions in Fisher v. University of Texas and Shelby County v. Holder.  The Center for Equal Opportunity helped write and file briefs in both cases, and in both cases the Court’s rulings vindicated our arguments, as discussed below. *          *          * Lawyers on both sides of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin are claiming victory, and there’s some logic to that: The big winners are lawyers generally. The takeaway from the Supreme Court’s ruling last week is that universities using racial preferences can expect more and tougher—stricter—scrutiny, to be hauled into court more …

There’s an excellent discussion here of “Originalism and the Colorblind Constitution,” by Professor Michael Rappaport. The bottom line (quoting the abstract): “In addition to arguing that the evidence for the constitutionality of affirmative action under the 14th Amendment’s original meaning is weak, the Article also contends that there is relatively substantial originalist evidence in favor of the colorblind Constitution.” I came to a similar conclusion here. Related posts: TESTIMONY OF ROGER CLEGG, PRESIDENT AND GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTER FOR EQUAL OPPORTUNITY BEFORE THE U.S. COMMISSION ON CIVIL RIGHTS REGARDING THE PROPOSED EMPLOYMENT NON-DISCRIMINATION ACT Five Mistakes Some Conservatives Are Making on …

The New York Times must really be afraid that the Supreme Court is about to do the right thing in Fisher v. University of Texas, in which the use of racial preferences in university admissions is challenged.   It ran an op-ed two Sundays ago that discusses the pending decision and acknowledges that, despite schools’ claims that race is considered as just one among many factors, it is in fact given huge weight today. This is despite warnings from the Court already (in 1978 and 2003) that the heavy and mechanical use of race is unacceptable. Related posts: TESTIMONY OF ROGER …