Civil Litigation,
U.S. Supreme Court
Oct. 27, 2012
Fisher not really an affirmative action case?
The Supreme Court dispute is arguably not an affirmative action case, depending on an understanding of the substantive content of that phrase and the breadth of its application.
Lawrence Waddington
Neutral
JAMS
Email: waddington1@aol.com
Lawrence is a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge and former assistant attorney general for the state of California. He is author of "Disorder in the Court" at Amazon.com. He also edits the 9th Circuit blog, "The 9th Circuit Watch."
The phrase "affirmative action," pilloried by critics as "racial preference," provides no definition, and the words are vague and indefinite. Affirmative action is an abstract concept, not concrete - subjective and untethered to any verbal boundaries or text except the equally indefinite Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The language is also linguistically unequipped for a definition because alleged violations of its content exist in highly controversial contexts of race, gend...
For only $95 a month (the price of 2 article purchases)
Receive unlimited article access and full access to our archives,
Daily Appellate Report, award winning columns, and our
Verdicts and Settlements.
Or
$795 for an entire year!
Or access this article for $45
(Purchase provides 7-day access to this article. Printing, posting or downloading is not allowed.)
Already a subscriber?
Sign In