Sotomayor is overuled: Affirmative Action gets a Black Eye!

[Brn2bfree]

Sotomayor is overruled as white firefighters win their case in the U.S. Supreme Court

In a 5-4 decisions the United States Supreme Court sided with white firefighters in their claim of discrimination against the mayor of New Haven. The decision has large legal and political implications as the claim relates closely to the hotly debated issue of affirmative action in the workplace. Expect republicans to praise the result of the decision while warning that judges like Sonia Sotomayor would lead to a different result in the future. In fact, the Supreme Court's decision reverses a decision made by Sotomayor while she sat on the Court of Appeals. The decision is certainly one of Sotomayor's more controversial decisions though the fact this was a 5-4 decision proves the issue is far from settled even among the best legal minds. It remains to be proven if Sotomayor's place on the Supreme Court bench would have led to a different decision.

In her Senate hearings Sotomayor will surely be questioned on the court case and asked if she will uphold the Supreme Court's decision as precedent should another case of that magnitude come forward. Sotomayor's most shrewd move would be to follow the advice of former nominees who have declined to comment on individual cases and said they would rule on each case based on its particular set of facts. If instead she says she would not uphold the decision she will sound like a judicial activists who has no respect for precedent. On the other hand if she says she would uphold the decision she will sound like flip-flopper who does not respect her own judicial opinions.

The case involved a test administered to firefighters in the town of New Haven, Connecticut. The results of the test were to be used in promoting firefighters within the department. The controversy arose when some white firefighters scored better on the test overall in comparison to minority firefighters. The town really had no way to win at that point in that if they kept the results they surely faced a lawsuit from minority groups while if they threw out the results white firefighters would sue. The town threw out the results of the test choosing to be labeled discriminatory by white firefighters rather than minority firefighters. The Supreme Court ruled that the city violated the constitution in throwing out the results.

It is important to note that in their decision the Supreme Court did not say that a city may never be able to favor one race through affirmative action. The Supreme Court still left open the possibility that a town like New Haven could favor minorities IF it could prove that the affirmative action measures were designed to remedy past discrimination. In this case, however, the Court ruled that the town did not prove that the measures taken were necessary to remedy past discrimination. In addition, the court ruled that the city's fear of lawsuits from minorities could not justify doing away with the test results. A full copy of the court 93 page long can be found here.

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Sotomayor is overuled: Affirmative Action gets a Black Eye!

This racist judge Sotomayor thinks that the minorities should get the job regardless of test scores.

Why doesn't this idiot and the most of the blacks, (ok...African American) listen to Martin Luther King?

What's up with these minorities wanting to get in front of the line because they are minorities? Do they not believe in fairness? Do they not believe in the rule of law? I guess not.

It's obvious that Sotomayor is a racist. Not only because of her cases being overturned but the comments that she's made in the past.

It is obvious that Obama is the same racist by pushing her through to the Supremes.

 

[Nik]

Too bad the case had nothing to do with affirmative action.

 

[Luissa]

I know a few black people who are changing their beliefs on affirmative action. I recently changed my mind. This just shows that it is outdated!

 

[William Joyce]

Too bad the case had nothing to do with affirmative action.

Yes, the case was actually about fighting racism, inequality and the KKK's chokehold on New Haven, Connecticut's municipal services. It's just such a darn shame that the Hitlers on our Supreme Court stood in the way. We shall overcome!

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

Sotomayor is overruled as white firefighters win their case in the U.S. Supreme Court

Of course she was over-ruled.

Her 'decision' was absurd on it's face and represented nothing but unbridled RACISM.

She's an idiot... but no less so than her Lord... King Hussein and her comrades Pelosi and Reid; a 'decision' which comes without the slightest concern for or observation OF, her race... the bad news here, is that the only thing which spared the country further suffering this idiocy... is that the court had for Americans and the "Moderate" just HAPPENED to fall with common sense, in this instance...

 

[Sarah G]

Two can play this game: Justice Alito had a high rate of reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court, too.

Submitted by modernesquire on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 11:06am.
Apparently, Drudge and Pro-Life groups like Concerned Women of America are hanging their hat that Judge Sotomayor has had three decisions of hers overruled by the U.S. Supreme Court (out of hundreds of decisions she has made.)

Only problem for them was that they had no such problem with Justice Alito's during his nomination fight.

In Friends of the Earth v. Laidlaw, the U.S. Supreme Court specifically rejected Judge Alito's ruling in a separate case that Congress had no constitutional right to confer the right to private citizens to sue to enforce the Clean Water Act.

In Chittister v. Department of Community and Economic Development, the Court specifically repudiated Justice Alito's finding that Congress had no authority to make the Family and Medical Leave Act applicable to state employees.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Alito's dissent in Casey v. Planned Parenthood.

His own Circuit reversed his decision in Riley v. Taylor in which a criminal defendant challenged the dismissal of all potential African-Americans on the jury.

The U.S. Supreme Court also reversed a death sentence that Alito had affirmed in Rompilla v. Beard (2004).

Two can play this game: Justice Alito had a high rate of reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court, too. | Buckeye State Blog

She will be confirmed anyway.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

If I were a black man, I would rather be promoted not because of my skin color but because I earned the promotion. It's a sad state of affairs when test have to be dumbed down so black men can compete and it says a lot about black men.

 

[etouffe123]

I became Equal Opportunity Officer for Honeywell, Inc, a large government contractor, when Affirmative Action came into being. We were told to hire minorities (not just African Americans). As Honeywell primarily used engineers in the field I called traditionally black colleges for engineering graduates. I was told time and time again there were none. I asked why and was told, "there was no merit in obtaining a degree in engineering for as a black there were no jobs available".
Affirmative Action had negative points and positive ones. Today it is unnecessary as blacks have achieved the upper ranks from President, CEO's, millionaires and billionaires, however at the time it served a positive purpose and was a starting point for many successful careers.

 

[AkronGuy]

If I were a black man, I would rather be promoted not because of my skin color but because I earned the promotion. It's a sad state of affairs when test have to be dumbed down so black men can compete and it says a lot about black men.
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Exactly, it speaks volumes.