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Supreme
Court Rules Race Criteria Unconstitutional for Public Schools |
Posted:
07.02.07
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In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools
may not consider an individual's race when trying to create a
diverse school body.
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The case, Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School
Dist. No. 1, involved school districts in Louisville, Ky. and
Seattle, Wash.
 Both
school districts used race as at least one factor in determining
which students attend their schools.
"Those plans generally gave students a choice of schools
to attend, and most students got their first choice. But where
the race of a student would make a difference in the desired racial
composition of a particular school, the race characteristic of
the student could determine where he or she went," Marcia
Coyle of the National Law Journal told the NewsHour.
But parents in both districts sued, saying that classifying students
on the basis of race was a violation of the equal protection clause
of the Constitution, part of the 14th Amendment, which essentially
says that all people are created equal and should be treated the
same.
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How the majority
ruled |
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The Supreme Court agreed with the parents that the plans were
unconstitutional.
Chief Justice Roberts, who wrote the case's main opinion, stated
that "simply because the school districts may seek a worthy
goal does not mean they are free to discriminate on the basis
of race to achieve it.
 "The
way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discrimination
on the basis of race," Roberts added.
He went on to argue that his side of the debate was "more
faithful to the heritage of Brown," the 1954 landmark case
Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed school segregation.
Roberts had Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel
Alito on his side.
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A differing
opinion |
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Justice Anthony Kennedy voted with the majority, but did not
fully agree with Roberts' decision and wrote his own opinion.
Kennedy argued that school districts can use race as a factor
without looking at the race of individual students. He suggested
"strategic site selection of new schools," targeted
recruitment of students and teachers and allocating resources
for special programs.
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The dissenting
viewpoint |
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Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
and Stephen Breyer disagreed with the majority.
Breyer wrote the longest dissent of his career in which he predicted
that the decision could result in the re-segregation of schools.
 "To
invalidate the plans under review is to threaten the promise of
Brown," Breyer wrote. "The plurality's position, I fear,
would break that promise."
Breyer said the entire country would come to regret the decision,
and then he made a general statement about the current court,
saying, "It is not often in the law that so few have so quickly
changed so much."
During President Bush's time in office, he has selected -- and
the Senate confirmed -- two conservative-leaning justices, Roberts
and Alito.
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Impact on
schools |
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Legal experts believe that Kennedy's opinion will shape future
school diversity programs.
Theodore Shaw, president of NAACP Legal Defense Fund, which supported
the diversity plans, said "I am grateful for the sliver of
hope that Justice Kennedy's opinion holds out. He refused to join
the most radical view, which would have made it impossible for
school districts to do anything about racial segregation."
 Others
believe districts will not want to risk the time and money necessary
for long court battles.
"They're going to conclude that it's just not worth it to
try and get through that narrow window, especially when what they're
trying to justify is something as ugly, and divisive, and politically
unpopular as assigning children to schools on the basis of skin
color," Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity,
which opposed the school districts' policies, told the NewsHour.
One possibility is that school districts will shift to using
family income as a way to integrate schools. Because minority
students tend to comprise a large portion of low-income groups,
economic diversity tends to lead to racial diversity as well.
"That's bulletproof," Richard Kahlenberg, a senior
fellow at the Century Foundation, a liberal-leaning think tank
in Washington, told the Associated Press. "Using economic
status is perfectly legal," he added.
--Compiled
by Annie Schleicher for NewsHour Extra
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