Articles

There's a new book out on Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor.  I have not read the book, but PLF friend Josh Blackman has the scoop on an interesting story about the Fisher decision in the book. According to Blackman (via Nina Totenberg), the case was primed to be decided along they typical 5-4 split (actually 5-3 in this case because Justice Kaga ...

Over the past year, advocates of racial preferences have suffered so many setbacks that racial preferences are becoming extinct. The first setback came last June in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin. In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court expressed deep skepticism about the University's attempt to racially balance its student body. The Cour ...

This morning I appeared on NPR's On Point to discuss the Supreme Court's decision in Schuette.  Taking the opposite view and debating me on the case was Columbia Law Professor Theodore Shaw.  You can listen to the podcast here. ...

Yesterday I discussed Kennedy's lead opinion in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action as well as Justice Scalia's concurring opinion.  Justice Breyer also voted to uphold Proposal 2, although his reasoning differs significantly from the other two opinions.  With Justice Kagan's recusal, Breyer's vote resulted in a resounding 6-2 vic ...

PLF Principal Attorney Meriem Hubbard authored this op-ed in the USA Today this morning. Here's a snippet: Counting Michigan, six states have outlawed race-based preferences at the polls. Now, with the green light from the court, voters everywhere should consider following suit. As society becomes more diverse, it becomes more and more divisive t ...

Justices Scalia and Thomas counted for two of the six votes in favor of Proposal 2's constitutionality.  Unlike Justice Kennedy, however, Justice Scalia's opinion -- joined by Justice Thomas -- would not save the political structure doctrine.  Scalia's concurrence argues that Hunter and Seattle should be left on the ash heap of history.   Jus ...

As I predicted last year, Justice Breyer voted to uphold Proposal 2.  With Justice Kagan's recusal, that means the Court voted 6-2 in favor of the constitutionality of the Michigan Amendment. Despite the overwhelming support for the constitutionality of Proposal 2, the Justices differed greatly on their reasoning.  In this post, I discuss the lea ...

After eight years of litigation, Michigan's decision to ban governmental racial classifications has been upheld by the Supreme Court. PLF has been heavily involved in this case since its inception -- we represented the ballot sponsors -- and this decision is great news.  You can read the opinion here.  I'll have more on the opinion later in the d ...

PLF attorney Joshua Thompson is at the U.S. Supreme Court today for oral argument in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action.  This case challenges the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which voters enacted as Proposal 2 in 2006.  Like California's Proposition 209, Proposal 2 prohibits state and local governments from discriminating ag ...