Keeping An Eye On The Court
Headlines scream “Supreme Court seems split on decision regarding race”. My only response “So what else is new?”
The case of the white firefighters from New Haven, Connecticut versus the city that employs them is underway before the justices of the Supreme Court. You may recall that during the most recent advancement test to fill fourteen spots in the higher ranks of the department thirteen of the highest scores went to white firefighters with the only other one being Hispanic. After the test was completed and graded it was decided that because no blacks had scored well enough to earn a promotion the entire test would be thrown out and nobody would be promoted until a new test could be devised.
This case holds tremendous impact not only for the firefighters involved but for just about every other race based program in the country. When it comes to setting legal precedent this one will be a doozie. But when it comes to getting a split decision out of the current Supreme Court this case is no different than most of the others.
Court watchers are already trying to figure out what the decision will be long before its anticipated publish date later this July. Most can discern the judges leanings based on the questions they ask and the retorts they make to the attorney’s answers.
As one would expect the very liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg seems sympathetic to the city of New Haven. She asked leading questions of the attorneys that seemed to tie the city’s decision with that of other municipalities that were forced a number of years ago to alter their strength and physical fitness tests to accommodate women. The problem with the justice’s argument is that this has nothing to do with physical strength but rather mental acuity. It is not a test to decide if you get to be on the fire department but rather if you get to be promoted within the fire department. If in fact this legal argument holds up the question that will remain unanswered is; just how low do you want to set the standards for advancement and what impact will that have on the command structure of the department?
This entire situation was brought about because the New Haven city council forgot what their main focus should be. They put the health and safety of the New Haven citizenry second to the political correctness of racially biased affirmative action. The test would have never been a problem if enough blacks had scored in the top fourteen.
The hard work and studying done by the successful firefighters was completely disregarded for one reason and one reason only. It is because they were white. There was no racial bias against the black firefighters. It’s not like they were given a test harder or more complex than the white firefighters. The ONLY racial bias in this entire process is against those firefighters who happen to be Caucasian.
I understand the disappointment felt by all the other firefighters who were not successful on the test, both black and white. They had their chance and they failed. They will now likely have to wait years before this kind of chance comes around again. It’s disappointing but it is not unfair.
While the court’s decision may end up being split it is to the great benefit of the Constitution that we also have conservative constitutionalists on the bench as well.
Justice Anton Scalia has brought some rather harsh questioning to the city’s attorney’s regarding their claim that the decision was race neutral. City Attorney Christopher Meade claimed that because everybody would have to take a new test that made it race neutral. Justice Scalia responded with the sarcastic response “It’s neutral because you throw it out for the losers as well as for the winners? That’s neutrality?” I love that guy.
Chief Justice John Roberts has already shown his constitutional interpretation when he voted down the 2007 school segregation plan. The majority of the court sided with Justice Roberts and said any system that based school assignments on race is unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy who also voted down the school plan seems to have a problem with the constitutionality of the New Haven decision as well.
It seems pretty simple to my simple mind. If blacks can no longer be denied employment or promotions based solely on race than it would be a constitutional travesty to say it was okay to do so against whites.
As I’ve said before, constitutionally that pesky equal protection under the law trumps political correctness.
