Kody Cooper wrote up an excellent article at Liberty Law blog on the upcoming affirmative action rulings in SFFA v. UNC and SFFA v. Harvard. There are alot of hard questions that defenders of these programs that discriminate against Asian Americans in favor of other racial groups cannot answer. Kody says they are questions of "When? How Much? What? Who? Which?”
The "when" question has to do with how long these programs were supposed to last; at oral argument, several Justices pointed out that Justice O'Connor claimed in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) that:
the Court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today."
Well, it's 2022, just about there for O'Connor's inappropriate policy prediction- and the administrators at Harvard show no signs of ending their programs. Kody writes:
Justice Kavanaugh pushed counsel on both sides on the duration limitation, and suggested that, while the time limit was open to interpretation, it at least had a definite upper limit. Might the time limit imposed be upon us? By the time the Court rules on these cases, presumably in Summer 2023, universities will be recruiting the class of 2028, who will be the first graduating class twenty-five years after Grutter was decided. Meanwhile, Justice Barrett expressed skepticism that in 2022 we had reached the point that O’Connor forecasted. Counsel on both sides agreed that the twenty-five-year specification was more aspirational than a hard deadline. This isn’t surprising. SFFA seeks a ruling that overturns Grutter outright rather than an opinion that attempts to salvage its reasoning; meanwhile, Harvard and UNC desire an indefinite extension of the deadline.
So, if there is no bright line expiration date, several justices wondered, when will courts know that “adequate” or “sufficient” diversity has been achieved such that the use of race is no longer required?
…
To me this is reminiscent of what Alito says in the Dobbs ruling about the predictions Casey and Roe made about the abortion issue: they said they'd die down over time. 49 years later and there's no sign that political issue is dying down. Alito writes:
The Casey plurality also misjudged the practical limits of this Court’s influence. Roe certainly did not succeed in ending division on the issue of abortion. On the contrary, Roe “inflamed” a national issue that has remained bitterly divisive for the past half century. Casey (opinion of Scalia, J.); see also R. Ginsburg, (Roe may have “halted a political process,” “prolonged divisiveness,” and “deferred stable settlement of the issue”). And for the past 30 years, Casey has done the same. Neither decision has ended debate over the issue of a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. Indeed, in this case, 26 States expressly ask us to overrule Roe and Casey and to return the issue of abortion to the people and their elected representatives. This Court’s inability to end debate on the issue should not have been surprising. This Court cannot bring about the permanent resolution of a rancorous national controversy simply by dictating a settlement and telling the people to move on. Whatever influence the Court may have on public attitudes must stem from the strength of our opinions, not an attempt to exercise “raw judicial power.” Roe (White, J., dissenting).
We do not pretend to know how our political system or society will respond to today’s decision overruling Roe and Casey. And even if we could foresee what will happen, we would have no authority to let that knowledge influence our decision. We can only do our job, which is to interpret the law, apply longstanding principles of stare decisis, and decide this case accordingly.
Indeed. How long should we have to put up with nonsense from the Supreme Court? Time is up for the Court’s mandates requiring abortion in all states; time should be up for affirmative action too.
Affirmative action will never really end until we fix this: In 2010, Republicans won the popular vote by 2.5 MM votes and gained 63 seats. In 2022, Republicans won the popular vote by almost 6 MM and only gained 9.
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/11/democrat-miracle-gop-wins-midterm-elections-massive-blow-loses-every-single-toss-seat-except-one-check-comparison-2010-results/
Friend of PoMoCon Michael Kochin says, Hopefully!, & sends these two pieces:
https://amgreatness.com/2018/03/19/the-whipped-cream-boys-of-affirmative-action/
https://amgreatness.com/2022/09/27/how-to-think-about-reparations-for-american-slavery/