Greenlining's Blog

The Last Throes of Affirmative Action?

High Court’s Support for Equality is at Risk

The U.S. Supreme Court hears, on average, four cases a year on issues related to discrimination, equal opportunity, and civil rights. That makes the stakes in the latest Supreme Court nomination process extremely high when it comes to civil rights.

The retirement of Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor spotlights the many 5-4 decisions that have occurred in recent years. In many of those 5-4 decisions she has been the pivotal swing vote. She has become the voice of reason on an increasingly conservative Supreme Court. In the University of Michigan affirmative action case upholding the University of Michigan Law School’s use of race and ethnicity for admission, Justice O’Connor made the definitive comments on the continuing need for affirmative action. She stated that in 25 years affirmative action may not be necessary because in that time a level playing field could be established. President Bush would be well served to appoint a centrist jurist in the mold of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

President Bush can avoid another contentious battle regarding his court nominees by nominating a fair and independent jurist with demonstrated qualifications in upholding civil rights. Unlike the last court nominations that threatened to destroy Senate traditions, President Bush should seek consensus across partisan lines to identify judges that are not bound by ideology. The county could be spared a bitter partisan battle if the President keeps in mind that the U.S. Constitution makes the President and the U.S. Senate partners in the appointment of federal judges and Supreme Court justices. The President needs to take seriously the “advice and consent” role of the U.S. Senate. Senators and the President share an equal responsibility for determining whether a nominee is qualified and able to uphold the constitution.

It is imperative at this time in American history to have Supreme Court justices that understand the struggles and legacy of those who fought and marched for civil rights. The nomination of a replacement for Sandra Day O’Connor is critical to the sustainability of equal opportunity and civil liberties. More than 50 years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision outlawing separate but equal, the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005 could be on the verge of restoring segregation in public schools, public contracting and employment.

Minority-led business and community organizations, civil rights groups, faith-based organizations and others, must demand that President Bush end the partisan rancor, or continue presiding over a divided nation during a time of war.

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