Supreme Court Turns Back White House Attack on Affirmative Action

Interview with Lani Guinier, Harvard University professor of law, conducted by Scott Harris

In a landmark decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court June 23, the justices upheld by a 5 to 4 vote, the University of Michigan's affirmative action admissions policy employed by the law school to promote educational diversity. While turning back the first major challenge to affirmative action in 25 years, the Court in a 6 to 3 ruling, struck down the University of Michigan's undergraduate admissions system which relied on points awarded to minority applicants.

Opponents of affirmative action had a powerful ally in the Bush administration, which had sent U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson to argue unsuccessfully before the court that university admission systems which take race into account are unconstitutional. But a well-organized national coalition of college students, civil rights activists, members of the U.S. military and some major corporations proclaimed their support for the goal of achieving diversity and equal opportunity throughout America's institutions of higher learning.

Writing the majority opinion in the law school case, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated that

"in order to cultivate a set of leaders with legitimacy in the eyes of the citizenry, it is necessary that the path to leadership be visibly open to talented and qualified individuals of every race and ethnicity.

" Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Harvard University Professor of Law Lani Guinier, who assesses the recent Supreme Court decision viewed by many as an important victory for the civil rights struggle in America.

Contact Harvard University's Civil Rights Project at (617) 496-6367 or visit their web site at www.civilrightsproject.Harvard.edu

Related links

"Leading Constitutional Scholars Analyze Supreme Court's Affirmative Action Decisions; The Civil Rights Project Leaders Applaud Ruling's Upholding Use of Race to Promote Diversity, " press release, Civil Rights Project at Harvard University



"The Court's Big Week: Saving Affirmative Action and a Process for Elites to Choose Elites, " by Lani Guinier, Village Voice, July 2-8, 2003 "The Court's Big Week: Redefining The Center, " by Sanford Levinson, Village Voice, July 2-8, 2003

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