Rightward Ho!

Legal Analyst Andrew Cohen: Court's Conservative Turn Is A Matter Of Math — And Art

(CBS)  Attorney Andrew Cohen analyzes legal issues for CBS News and CBSNews.com.

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Whether you believe the Supreme Court is heading toward a precipice or redemption, there is no longer any doubt it is moving, rapidly and intensely, toward the right.

You take a reliably conservative justice and expect him to hold the Supreme Court’s moderate middle and what do you get? Disappointed. You take a moderately conservative Supreme Court and you replace its most pragmatic centrist with a rigid, starboard-facing ideologue and what do you get? The Roberts Court, circa 2007.

Two things are directly responsible for the Court's marked turn to the right this term — and you don't need to be a legal scholar to understand either. One is a matter of math; one is a matter of art. The mathematical equation simply tracks the significant ideological differences between Sandra Day O'Connor, the former politician who ranged the Court's center, and her successor, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., who has proven to be able to deliver to his conservative benefactors precisely the votes they had hoped for when they accepted his nomination a year and a half ago.

It was Justice Alito whose vote in Gonzales v. Carhart helped deliver from despair the Congressional ban upon a type of what the law calls a partial birth abortion procedure — and, in the process, undercut the precedent set forth in Roe v. Wade. It was Justice Alito whose vote in Ledbetter v. Goodyear helps hamstring employees seeking remedies for past workplace discrimination. It was Justice Alito who in Bowles v. Russell voted against a man's right to a hearing because the man had relied (reasonably enough, wrote the dissenters) upon federal trial judge's deadline that turned out to be wrong. It was Justice Alito who in Hein v. Freedom From Religion voted to block taxpayers from complaining about the executive branch's self-promotion of religion.

In each of these cases, and many more, the Court's self-professed Hamlet, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, could have done something to change the outcome — but didn't. The man anointed by deep thinkers in the media — and also me — as the likely "new" swing vote on the Court, the successor-in-interest and moderation to O'Connor, didn't, in the end, look or talk or act like any sort of savior for independent or soft-right causes. Instead, Justice Kennedy voted in the vast majority of cases — the big global warming case and Thursday’s public school affirmative action case being the remarkable exceptions — the way you would expect any appointee of Ronald Reagan to vote.

When you combine Justice Kennedy's general inability or unwillingness to become the new O'Connor model for moderation and add to that Justice Alito's eagerness to tack to O'Connor's jurisprudential right, you get a strong, vibrant Supreme Court majority this term that was even more willing than its recent predecessors to overturn existing precedent to come to a decision — especially when that decision skewed right. This in part thanks mostly to the two newest justices who pledged up one side of the Senate confirmation hearing room and down the other that they would show great deference to the past rulings of the Court. Not so much.

No one should be surprised. It was as predictable as humidity in Washington in August. President George W. Bush promised during the 2004 election that he would, if given the opportunity, turn the Court rightward — and on this promise, at least, he has succeeded. Senate Democrats, especially those on the Judiciary Committee, saw this trend coming, too. They warned over and over again during the Alito and Roberts confirmation hearings that the nominees were playing possum; hyping up their humility while downplaying their ideology. In the case of Alito, especially, they were correct.

It doesn't matter whether you call these folks the Roberts Court, or the Kennedy Court or the Alito Court. The result is a Supreme Court that this past term consistently sided with big business interests over consumers; with employers over employees; and with law enforcement goals over individual rights. It is a Court that is more conservative than was the Rehnquist Court, which was more conservative than its predecessor, the Warren Burger Court, which of course was more conservative than the Earl Warren Court. When a Reagan appointee like Justice Kennedy is the last best hope for moderates, you know where you can find the gravity of the Court.

In fact, even on the last day of the term, while most of the country's attention was riveted upon immigration reform and the justices' own tepid and ambiguous pronouncements on schools, the Court's conservative majority overturned a 96-year-old legal precedent that had until Thursday outlawed minimum-price deals between manufacturers and distributors. It's no small wonder then that Justice Alito was heralded last week by a business publication for his service to the cause; the man sided with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 13 out of 14 cases this term, Bloomberg reported.

It's also no shock that tension rippled to the surface on the last day of the term. Justice Stephen Breyer reportedly appeared ready to leap out of his chair when Chief Justice Roberts compared the "victims" of current school policies in Seattle and Louisville, Ky., with the "victims" of the nation's odious "separate but equal" policy toward schools that was famously erased in 1954 and later by Brown v. Board of Education. Justice John Paul Stevens called Roberts' remarks — citing Brown to rule against integration — a "cruel irony."

Let there then be no more silly and condescending talk from the Chief Justice about trying to bring consensus and even unanimity to the Court. It is today as fractured as it has been in a generation, with no apparent relief in sight. Let there also be no more talk as we head into another election cycle about the significance of presidential contests in shaping the makeup of the Court and therefore its jurisprudence. Whether you believe the Court is heading toward a precipice or redemption, there is no longer any doubt it is moving, rapidly and intensely, toward the right. Its newest members are leading the way, and its center has not held. The nation has the Court it said it wanted — and, indeed, the Justices it deserves.

[ubrew12]

So be it. I believe this will encourage voters to elect Democrats to Congress and the White House, so that there can be no miscommunication of intent when they pass laws that must be 'interpreted' by these neanderthals in the court.

[aaabee-2009]

The nation has the Court it said it wanted %u2014 and, indeed, the Justices it deserves.

NOT THE ENTIRE NATION, THANK YOU.

Let any conservative court touch my rights as a woman, I dare you.

Regression will not an option.

[wogerwabbit]

More tesitimony to the Republicans coming thousand year banishment from serious consideration as a political party.

They think we're stupid... WRONG... we're slow, not stupid. But, we tend to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but they've used up their good will. They passed through the "put up or shut up" time and didn't even know it was a test. They failed miserably and will now pay the toll for their continued fealty to we the corporations rather than we the people. So be it.

[ioweign]

It's no small wonder then that Justice Alito was heralded last week by a business publication for his service to the cause; the man sided with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 13 out of 14 cases this term, Bloomberg reported.

So much for the workin stiff. Honest day's wage for an honest day's work! Not with 13 out of 14 going to the Chamber of Commerce. This on top of outsourcing!!

[cfin5]

If it's going to the right, it better STOP at the Constitution of the United States.....There is no difference in the "SUM" of being to far left or right. Remember the Church of Englands historical equation in our countries birth folks!

[Keypinitreel1]

The Republicans are going to be demoralized next election... these guys are like a disease... we have to give everything to the democrats and let the Dems hold it for 8 yrs in order to re-establish balance.

[fairandbal]

We have a court system that is bought and paid for by the Corporation. Congress and White House too! 'We the people' and the 'Constitution' mean nothing to these people.
Wake up Folks before we everything!

[r9119111]

The real culprit her is extremism. When one party dominates in all branches of government, the opposition suffers. The best plan of action is down the middle of the road where action by general concensus becomes the best action to take. That way everyone is better represented. The bleeding will not stop for generations as a result of what has been foisted on us by the current administration and by those who have supported it.
Greed is behind what has happened to America in recent years. The rich and powerful think they have made great progress only to find that in future years they will also suffer as a result of their excesses. Everyone suffers when greed is the ruling force behind decisions of national importance.
We as the people of America have to make a decision as a nation: are we going to be a nation where the winner takes all, or are we going to be a nation of hopeful people who move forward cooperatively and collectively where everyone feels represented? Until recent years we have worked together very nicely. This will not happen as long as the court legislates with estremist views from the bench. Good Luck, America.
We can learn beneficial lessons from an administration like this if we move forward together and make the corrections needed, or it can be the beginning of continuing upheaval, dysfunction and disgrace. I do hope we make the right choice. The current court only makes it more difficult.

[samthetvcat]

pt 2
My sense with these Bush appointee rulings is that the judges much like Bush have a grand vision in their minds of how their decisions are going to play out which is going to be completely different in reality. Like they seem to lack the empathy to accurately gauge how people will be affected or something (?) When the entire education system goes to pot, holdings such as this one will eventually have to be overturned. Plessy v. Fergusen ('separate but equal') was eventually overruled by Brown v. Board of Ed. (desegregation) . . . hopefully as soon as one of these Bush twits kicks the bucket, this one'll get overruled too . . .

[samthetvcat]

pt 1
Well, certain areas of the law like the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution are so broad they are necessarily shaped by the ideology of the majority of the sitting justices - if not for Sandra Day O'Conner, who knows whether Roe v. Wade would ever have been passed. And although we all seem to have strong opinions when it comes to those hot-button issues like the death penalty, abortion, and social justice, I don't know whether there are truly 'right' or 'wrong' beliefs. Apparently Justice Breyer all but called his neo-con colleagues racists, and hey I'm inclined to agree. But there are probably a whole lot of other people who have different ideas of what is 'equal' in the abstract.

I think where ruling such as these develop the ability to be judged as 'right' or 'wrong' and not just a matter of ideology is when the hot-button issue is secondary to an institutional issue invoving business or education. For example the Republican Congress in the mid-90's based on the idea that Big Business needed less oversight to maximize profits passed laws to deregulate much of Wall St., particularly the energy industry . . . a couple of years later we had Enron, the collapse of Enron, and a restructuring of the entire corporate accounting protocol. In that case, the ideology with no 'right' or 'wrong' was misapplied based on an inaccurate assessment of how to optimize the corporate structure and the law was clearly wrong.

[mcvet]

Welcome to Southern Fascism folks! This is a place where some think they are superior to others and those on the bottom are exploited along Religious and racial lines to keep those who THINK they are superior in place. I fought those battles in my youth, now it's time for a new generation of American's to take on the twin headed monster of Greed and Religion. Good luck! Sieg Heil Bush!

[infidel_us]

Considering the court has been "Leftward Ho" for the last 60 years, I'd say it's about time some sense came back in to it.

90% of the reason our country is in such a mess today is directly attributable to the PINHEADED interpretations of the constitution by a liberal SC.

[perception5]

Children should go to the school that is closest to their homes...........PERIOD.

What did Martin Luther King say about this ??? " Don't judge me on the color of my skin but instead by the content of my character" ................. King was correct. And this Supreme Court was absolutely correct in its decision.

It's not about the color of someone ones skin its about having "good schools" in the deep blue inner cities of this country where the Dems have a monopoly.

Invest in the K thru G12 system. Provide "performance based pay" for teachers whose children do well in "testing". The problem is our mob-run unions don't like this idea.......... they think everyone should get the same pay regardless of performance.

When are we going to stop writing "blank checks" ? when is there going to be "accountablility" in our deep blue city school systems ? when can American expect "timelines" for higher High School graduation rates?

In Detroit only 25% of children ever graduate from High School. Detroit also has the "highest" crime rate in America.

Liberals free the poor black children in your deep blue cities..................... TEACH THESE CHILDREN or GET OUT OF THE WAY.

And the "enablers" of this crime, our corrupt liberal MSM wolfpack.......... start reporting on the failure of your pals the Dems.

[hypnotoad72]

Nice use of the word "ho" in the article's title, LOL...

All I know is, the truth (and the balance) is in the middle.

...and that $exual infidelity or $exual inhibition (in other words, being a *** or a ho) leads to heartache and/or disease.

[perception5]

WHEN ? will the poor black children in our "deep blue cities" going to be "lifted up" through education?

Why does less than half of the children in Washington DC never graduate from High School?

Why is it that 72% of Black male children in Baltimore never graduate from High School ?

When will the Dems "ENABLERS" our Corrupt Liberal MSM Wolfpack Press "shine light" on this crime ?

Is this what you LIBERALS call "Social Justice" ? ............. No Justice ............ No Peace.

[mike71067]

Finally, a Supreme Court we as Americans can be proud of. The one bright spot in the Bush presidency.

[lawandorder7]

the court is a disgrace to the people of the USA.

[hypnotoad72]

perception5 - I agree with your claims.

Also ask the same question to Oprah. She says America's underprivileged children only care about iPods and things...

[gkc99]

When Bushit goes to his well-deserved oblivion as a highly paid consultant of the Carlyle Group and a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institute, the next Democratic Congress and President might think about increasing the number of Supreme Court justices, much as FDR did in the days when "a switch in time saved the nine." The present Nine, the Nazgul of the Evil Lord Bushit, are attempting to cover Middle Earth in Shadow.

[r9119111]

We can see it now. This court will rule on the side of selfish self-interest and the right wing religious self-righteous bigots.

[grumpas]

Finally, a Supreme Court we as Americans can be proud of. The one bright spot in the Bush presidency.
Posted by mike71067

Only a right wing nut case would be proud of such a decision! It's sad people like you can't grow up and join the real world out there. You white guys aren't the only people in the world. You will keep up the dirty work until you have what's left of the middle of road people forced into the Liberal camp. And it becomes a threat to your ideals again! The further people like you push, the more people are going to start fighting back! I will predict that 'Conservative' becomes a dirtier word than 'liberal'! It already is in a lot of circle's. I will take a liberal any day of the week over a fascist conservative!

[dan9111]

It shouldn't matter whether the court is liberal or conservative. What matters is honesty. A conservative "right wing nut job" court is exactly what we need!

At least until the liberals stop being hypocrites.

[mcdonaj3]

Liberals truly believe that discrimination is acceptable if it is for a good purpose...in this case to achieve racial diversity. This, the ends justify the means mentality, has resulted in reverse discrimination. Even today, less qualified minority students continue to get preference over more qualified white students in college admissions. To a liberal this is "good" discrimination. The Supreme Court has correctly ruled that discrimination based race is unconstitutional.

[r9119111]

It shouldn't matter whether the court is liberal or conservative. What matters is honesty. A conservative "right wing nut job" court is exactly what we need!

At least until the liberals stop being hypocrites.

I've included definiutions so we know who we are talking about.

big7ot

big7ot [bmgg%u0259t]
(plural big7ots)
n
intolerant person: somebody who has very strong opinions, especially on matters of politics, religion, or ethnicity, and refuses to accept different views


[Late 16th century. From French , of unknown origin.]
Encarta . World English Dictionary ) & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

hyp7o7crite

hyp7o7crite [hmpp%u0259krit]
(plural hyp7o7crites)
n
somebody feigning high principles: somebody who gives a false appearance of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings
nothing but a bunch of hypocrites


Encarta . World English Dictionary ) & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Now. Just whom are we talking about? Liberals. I don't think so.

[r9119111]

Had to make it readable.

It shouldn't matter whether the court is liberal or conservative. What matters is honesty. A conservative "right wing nut job" court is exactly what we need!

At least until the liberals stop being hypocrites.

I've included definiutions so we know who we are talking about.

bigot
big-ot
(plural big-ots)
n
intolerant person: somebody who has very strong opinions, especially on matters of politics, religion, or ethnicity, and refuses to accept different views


[Late 16th century. From French , of unknown origin.]
Encarta . World English Dictionary ) & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

hyp-o-crite

hyp-o-crite
(plural hyp-o-crites)
n
somebody feigning high principles: somebody who gives a false appearance of having admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings
nothing but a bunch of hypocrites


Encarta . World English Dictionary ) & (P) 1998-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Now... Just whom are we talking about? Liberals. I don't think so.

[tejasdemo]

The court is a disgrace to this country but the writer is correct. The idiots who voted for Bush and Cheney got what they wanted and deserved.

Now, they have to live with it.

[clestes-2009]

And to think we are going to be stuck with this ignorant and stupid court forever.

This is the legacy of Bush. He has been a disaster as a president, and will go down as the dip who ussered in the Roberts court along with all his other mistakes.

But, you know, this might be a good thing. Maybe the people of this country are going to be so sick of this court and this presidency that the neocons will never again regain power. After all they represent a very small part of America.

[bombadil4]

Particularly with Roberts, our lame Senate was practically falling all over the guy with praise. Outside of Joe Biden and a few others, no one seemed to entertain the obvious thought that this guy was little more than a smooth-talking phoney with good hair.
And that was even with Dubya saying loud and clear that his mission was to send the court as far right as he could. Pray he doesn't get the chance to make another appointment before his disaterous administration come to a merciful end.

[processor2]

Great decision by the Supreme Court

Afterall,
It was Martin Luther King,Jr. who said that we should judge someone by the content of their character, and NOT by the color of their skin.

This Supreme Court decision reaffirms that belief.

...

[misands]

The court is a disgrace to this country but the writer is correct. The idiots who voted for Bush and Cheney got what they wanted and deserved.

Now, they have to live with it.
-tejasdemo at 11:21 AM : Jun 29, 2007

No, unfortunately we ALL have to live with it.

I couldn't agree more with the last sentence in the article "The nation has the Court it said it wanted %u2014 and, indeed, the Justices it deserves".

[lovegetpeace]

For all those folks who voted Republicans in the last decade to get the Tax cuts, I hope you also get the justice you rightfully deserved.

"Back to the Future - part 5"

[lovegetpeace]

For all those folks who voted Republicans in the last decade to get the Tax cuts, you brought the justice you rightfully deserve.

For those white folks who claim that reverse discrimination is unconstitutional, we will be back. Why? The white population is declining fast because the white's birth rate is way below the negative side due to their 'cannot afford another offspring' lifestyle. Non-while population is increasing and is becoming the majority in more and more key states soon. Once the non-white reach the critical mass, you can kiss my mother.

In the meantime, I will enjoy watching this "Back to the Future - part 5"

Love&Peace

[jimmyc1955]

So - as a society it's not ok to use race to discriminate in issues like profiling (for instance most arrests for urban drug sales are African American so a profile of an urban drug lord is not allowed to include African America - or we can't search Middle eastern males for bombs unless we also search old ladies in walkers) but it is ok to use racial discrimination for issues like inclusion into exlusive law schools, awarding government contracts and school populations.

OR to put it another way - I want discrimination when it's good for me - but I don't want it when its bad for me.

It must be nice to have an ability to decide what part of the rules I want and what part I don't.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Martin Luther King

We want to judge by skin first - then maybe character - when it's to our advantage.

Thats a "cake and eat it too" request.

[lovegetpeace]

For those folks who believe that reverse discrimination means non-white love discrimination because it benefits them, well reverse discrimination benefits the whites the most. I will share the following personal note.

I had, and took full advantage of the, hopes to get out of the ghettos of East Los Angeles because of Affirmative Action 40 years ago. Yes, that 5% right taken away temporary from whites. I now enjoy with all my white co-workers a Master Degree from a major California University.

Now, you take away any hopes to penetrate the racial ceiling and I would be selling you drugs in the streets of Los Angeles right now. I would be crowding our jails. I would be in constant rages to hurt you. I would be giving you too much and all the social ills you see, but ignore, today in America.

Give me half of the pie and you can have the other half. Keep me at the bottom of the ladder and you will not sleep. Whites benefit the most when non-whites benefit. Now, do you feel what I feel?


Love&Peace

[lovegetpeace]

In case a Conservative Religious Right, who must be having a hangover after too much celebration yesterday, post here.

Your God said to help the weak. To be compassionate and considerate of those in needs. Where in the hell is your compassion?

For 128 years, slavery allowed you to legally discriminate non-whites and keep them at the bottom.

Non-whites need whites help to get out of the bottom of this hell.

OR - I use religion when it benefits me but I ignore religion when it does not benefit me?


Love&Peace

[pepperp1]

Cheney has been described by an old friend as a %u201Cmega-maniacal paranoid%u201D whose secret empire within the government had captured the Bush presidency and helped bring the Republican Party to the brink of ruin, and so will we suffer with these 2 untalented concrete literalist they have chosen to put on the bench.

[jimmyc1955]

What was the limit you encountered into getting into a university? Was it grades, money, admissions? Were you competing for admission space with white students? OR was it your grades were inadequate but the program to add african american students to campuses enabled you to get into school with lower grades?

If it was grades then the African American community bears some of the responsibility for poor grades and underachiving performance.

A harvard study (http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfrp/projects/fine/resources/digest/race.html)

points out that Asian American family with the same social and financial conditions as AFrican American families were able to succeed by making edcuation part of the daily process where the African American family looked to the schools to solve the problem.

My point being - we need to quit seeking solutions from government to force behaviors by others and solve the problems internally. Taking from one to give to another is no more right now than it was then. Slaverly was a horrid period in American history - preventing an 18 year old white student from attending a school of their choice by pushing a less qualified black student isn't right either.

I think I remember my mother saying - two wrongs don't make a right.

[samthetvcat]

"OR was it your grades were inadequate but the program to add african american students to campuses enabled you to get into school with lower grades?"
Posted by jimmyc1955 at 03:34 PM : Jun 29, 2007

When I was in graduate school, all the African American students did really well. I'm not sure where this perception comes from that they are getting into school with lower grades because that was clearly not the case at my college. As a matter of fact, I thought they weren't allowed to consider race as a factor in admissions any more (not sure though - forgot how the last couple of rulings went down with that Michigan case)

[jimmyc1955]

lovegetpeace

You speak in such broad generalities - it is almost impossible to answer them - but being the brave soul I am - I will try.

Where in any religion does it say that you shall discriminate in the needy and give preferential treatment to those of color who are in need over those whites in need? My ability to aid others is limited to my reach - and I aid everybody I can.

And for whom should I have your pre- qualified compassion? Because they are black they should receive compassion and if they are white less? I should be a racists to give out compassion? Of course you will rail about my bigoted answer because I treat each human as individuals and expect of all of them the same.

You prefer we address things in these massive racial groups so as to avoid the confusion associated with the per individual basis of compassion.

So (and if you can stereotyp - so can I) as you sip your Starbuck, reading the NYT or the Nation and feeling good about your compassion - let me ask you - what have YOU done to help?

I have had 3 african american children living with me, and just watched one head off to college. I extend my compassion to all I can reach. I don't ask the government to do it for me.

[taddles-2009]

"This in part thanks mostly to the two newest justices who pledged up one side of the Senate confirmation hearing room and down the other that they would show great deference to the past rulings of the Court. Not so much."

Like all Republicans, they are ******* liars.

This court is a disgrace to anything good in the american legal system.

[samthetvcat]

PS Also the African American students who were at my college had to overcome tremendous odds - poverty, crime and drug problems in the neighborhood, pressure to join gangs . . . most of their friends had not fared so well. Education was their ticket out, but maybe the kids who managed to escape this climate were the ones who got to see other neighborhoods where they were going to be accepted for feeling empowered through learning rather than through joining a gang. I don't know though . . .

[taddles-2009]

"Thats a "cake and eat it too" request.
Posted by jimmyc1955 at 01:40 PM : Jun 29, 2007"

You don't see white kids getting rejection letters from prestigous schools, you don't see white kids clamoring to get into all black schools and being denied regardless of accedemic quilifications.

We still need desegregation laws because stupid right-wing jerks like you will still discriminate against people of color.

[jimmyc1955]

Sam

Can I assume that by the time any student gets into a graduate program, the poor performers have been weeded out? Though I don't doubt your statement I don't believe it addresses the question of K-12 performance. Drop out rates amoung African Americans is high relative to other groups. 40 years of program after program and not improved that. I don't believe any substantial change will occur until the community focus, and family focus is on getting an education.

The Michigan case involved the law school admissions and it revolved specially around a number of "diversity" based admissions criteria. I don't believe the last decision eliminated all methods of creating "diversity" (real diversity happens without a premeasured standard being applied) but only eliminated the criteria around race.

[jimmyc1955]

Taddles - duhhh - you haven't been in my home where my son (white) got into a smaller school and the african american boy I helped raise got into a top flight big 10 school - because of grades. One of the two listened about my preaching study better than the other one.

I hope you never have to have a "discussion" with your son about how you love the other kid more then me - that was really, really hard.

Quit dwelling in stereotypes and get out and look around. All whites aren't privileged - all blacks aren't victims. Social relief programs are used by the same ratio of black to white as the general population.

[jimmyc1955]

Taddles - by the way - nobody is clamoring to get into traditional black schools - since those same black students are being accepted into those very schools you say are denying them admission. Go check out Howard University, or Grambiling or any other tradition black college and you will find the number of applications falling dramatically

Or haven't you heard the news

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/printedition/2007/06/25/natcolleges0625a.html

[samthetvcat]

jimmyc1955 thanks for the info on the Michigan case. Yeah when it comes to these complex institutions with so many factors it is hard to know what will make a difference because so much has been tried with little success. Like sometimes I guess it is just a matter of trial and error. I can't actually point to anything to substantiate my prediction that education is going to get worse because of this ruling - I guess what alarmed me is the fact that it essentially creates defacto segregation and since school funds are dependent on local property tax there's going to be a two-tiered system (I think? Unless the city is rerouting funds?) AND the majority of the court doesn't seen to care. Maybe by dumb luck little damage will be done, or even better things will improve . . . I just find in life that if people really don't truly care about the effect their actions have on other people then their analysis isn't complete. But I guess time will tell . . .

[samthetvcat]

PS I just found this article on another page of CBSnews.com:

"[Justice Kennedy} also said districts should be able to find creative ways to achieve their goals without relying on widespread racial classification.

One idea gaining ground is for school officials to use family income as a way to integrate schools economically.

Since minorities are often more likely to be poorer then their white peers, this can produce racial integration, said Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a liberal-leaning think tank in Washington. Importantly, he added, it wouldn't be scrutinized legally so long as it didn't rely on race.

"That's bulletproof," Kahlenberg said. "Using economic status is perfectly legal.""

* * *

So I guess Kennedy sided with the neo-cons in letter but not spirit of the law . . . I guess society will ultimately find a way to optimize itself . . .

[jimmyc1955]

SamTheTVCat The question is what is the total impact to ALL students? Busing usually means as somebody gets bussed in - somebody else gets bussed out. My reading of the Harvard study is that the prime determinant of academic success isn't how much money we spend (if that were true America should be well ahead of the whole world because we spend more per capata on k-12 education than any nation on earth) but how much follow up is there at home for stressing the homework and study.

To your point about individuals - that I totally agree with. Individuals who don't give a *** will cause damage where ever they go. But this is an individual issue. The question that hasn't been proven, in my mind anyway, is that institutions will behave in that same callous way.

I don't believe you can legislate against ignorance and stupidity. No amount of court rulings will prevent a mean person for mean acts. And no court ruling will make a bad student a good student.

Like the welfare reform change - if we take the crutches away we will find that people will rise to the occasion, overcome barriers and achieve. And they will have achieved without wondering how much was their effort and how much was given to them. They will know, without a question, they can overcome any barrier they encounter - and that is the ultimate goal.

[samthetvcat]

Interesting points jimmyc1955 . . . I'll have to think about these for a bit - my mind's tired lol! :)

[huskerarmy]

Like the welfare reform change - if we take the crutches away we will find that people will rise to the occasion, overcome barriers and achieve.
Posted by jimmyc1955
I was there when there were no "cruches" as you call it and guess what... they didn't overcome. Base on your claim, why don't we just go back to good ole' Jim Crow. If we just take away their "crutches," or as some of us call them, "bootstraps," they will certainly overcome...