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US Court Strikes Down Michigan Affirmative Action Ban
University of Michigan student Ebrie Benton, left, demonstrates outside the Federal courthouse, Wednesday, March 7, 2012, in Cincinnati, where the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals was hearing oral arguments in their review of their ruling last summer that Proposal 2, the ban on affirmative action in Michigan, is unconstitutional. (Credit: AP)
DETROIT (AP) — Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in college admissions was declared unconstitutional Thursday by a deeply divided federal appeals court, six years after state voters said race could not be an issue in choosing students.
In an 8-7 decision, the court said the 2006 amendment to the Michigan Constitution is illegal because it presents an extraordinary burden to opponents who would have to mount their own long, expensive campaign through the ballot box to protect affirmative action.
That burden “undermines the Equal Protection Clause’s guarantee that all citizens ought to have equal access to the tools of political change,” said Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., writing for the majority at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
The court said having supporters and opponents debate affirmative action through the governing boards of each public university would be much fairer than cementing a ban in the constitution, which it referred to as home of “the highest level” of public policy.
The court did not comment on a portion of the amendment that deals with government hiring.
The decision is limited to states in the 6th Circuit, which includes Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. But it also raises the odds that the U.S. Supreme Court may get involved. A very similar law in California was upheld by a San Francisco-based appeals court, and the Supreme Court could choose to resolve the conflicting decisions of the 9th Circuit and the 6th Circuit on voter-approved bans.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, a supporter of the ban, said he will ask the nation’s highest court to take the case.
“Entrance to our great universities must be based upon merit,” he said.
George Washington, a Detroit attorney for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, said the ruling is a “tremendous victory.” He predicted the case will move to the Supreme Court.
“What this really means is thousands of blacks and Latinos who would not have had a chance to go to our most selective universities will have the chance to become lawyers, doctors and leaders of all fields,” Washington said.
As the college admissions process for 2013 heats up, it wasn’t immediately clear what campuses would do in light of the ruling. Officials at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University said they were reading the decision.
At the University of Michigan, 8 percent of undergraduates this fall are black or Hispanic, compared to almost 11 percent in 2008. The number of black female undergraduates is down 27 percent compared to 2008, according to university data.
This is the second time that the appeals court has examined Michigan’s affirmative action issue. A three-judge panel last year also found the ban unconstitutional for similar reasons. But after a plea from Schuette, the entire court decided to take a fresh look at the matter, with new filings and arguments leading to the new ruling Thursday.
In a 32-page opinion, the court’s majority explained the difficulties that it sees for students under the constitutional amendment. For example, there’s nothing barring someone from citing family alumni connections when applying to a college. But the court said a student seeking to use race to influence the admissions process now is shut out unless the constitution is changed again.
“Michigan cannot force those advocating for consideration of racial factors to traverse a more arduous road without violating the Fourteenth Amendment,” the court said. “We thus conclude that Proposal 2 reorders the political process in Michigan to place special burdens on minority interests.”
In dissent, Judge Danny Boggs said the majority relied on an “extreme extension” of two Supreme Court cases to justify its decision, one in 1969 involving the repeal of a fair housing law in Akron, Ohio, and the other in 1982 involving an effort to stop racial integration in Seattle schools.
“We have the citizens of the entire state establishing a principle that would in general have seemed laudable,” Boggs said of Michigan.
Another dissenter, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons, said the will of 58 percent of voters in 2006 has been shredded.
“Michigan has chosen to structure its university system such that politics plays no part in university admissions at all levels. … The Michigan voters have therefore not restructured the political process in their state by amending their state constitution; they have merely employed it,” Gibbons said.
Besides Michigan, six states have banned racial preferences in admissions: Washington, Nebraska, Arizona, New Hampshire, California and Florida. In Texas and Georgia, leading public universities use a race-neutral system, though the University of Texas has maintained some use of affirmative action.
Since a 2003 Supreme Court decision, universities have been allowed to use racial preferences if they choose, though they are not compelled to do so. The court last month heard arguments in a case that could change that precedent. Abigail Fisher, a rejected white applicant, is suing the University of Texas.
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Comments (148)
Aldo
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:38pmI am as sick of seeing black people shout racism to get what they want as I am sick of seeing screaming Muslims shooting AK’s into the air.
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Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:01amJust ask Chris Matthews, everybody is a racist, except the liberal media and anyone that plays the race card of course:
http://www.isthatbaloney.com/everybody-is-racist-except-chris-matthews-and-msnbc/
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Thomas
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:15amIf all white people would just decide to quit their jobs and go get on welfare all at once I wonder what would happen? I personally am tired of trying to save these crazy people. The only reason I back America is because of freedom but when freedom is gone then screw America (because to me it has ceased to be America). Blacks in every country they run becomes and stays a 3 rd world country and in this last vote it is the straw that broke the camels back through lies, scams, and the white people sense of fairness over time they got the upper hand. What we find is that they didn’t just want fair treatment they wanted to be the winners but while they couldn’t do them selves they used the government to exact their revenge for whatever way they are held back. I don’t know if the democrats made them this way over time with social engineering or they are so gullible and blind naturally but by what ever method they are a stupid people.
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Oilfield_Trash
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:19amHo is “Affirmative Action” not Rascism? With any group that is getting “special” treatment due to color, nationality, etc.. there is another group being discriminated against. Oh, I forgot, the only people that can’t be discriminated agaist is white folks. The equal rights movement was about the SAME opportunities, where did it get this twisted to become “special treatment”? You see it everywhere, schools, employers, etc. I’m sure in the very near future we’ll have to have special consideration for the LGBT crowd. (and people actually wonder why this country is going down the toilet?)
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00100111
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:04amAffirmative Action IS racist.
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Individualism
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:37ameven with affirmative action black people still perform the worst by such a margin out of all the racial groups.
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G-WHIZ
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:43amAffirmative action pushes blacks-ONLYabove everyone else on this plannet! Deffinnately NOT “EQUALLITY”!!
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The_Cabrito_Goat
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 11:11amThomas,
That is the idea behind the Cloward and Pivon theory. The big “what if?” you proposed would be this: Collapse, forcing the government to step in, thus an unholy phoenix rises from the ashes.
Considering the awesome global economic engine that is America, the kind of things that would be accomplished under a co-opted government, with radicals leading it by the nose, would be unfathomable.
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Constantine Ivanov
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:17pmI am sick of judges playing the racist card, like in this outrageous decision.
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Constantine Ivanov
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 5:24pm@G-WHIZ:
“Definitely NOT “EQUALLITY”, you said.
You mean, E-quality (i.e. Earp-quality)?
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Wat Tyler
Posted on November 17, 2012 at 4:25amIt is modern day McCarthyism.
Only instead of rooting out Communists, they’re witch hunting “racists”.
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TJexcite
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:36pmGreat way to solve this is to start your own school to train only the ones that you think are worthy based on where there ancestors came from Or remove the box one can check on the application and judge on content of character not color of skin.
Would you really want a doctor who only got the trained based on the color of their skin. They might have to do that for the lack of Doctors. You look like a minority, how would you like to be a doctor? Well here is your stethoscope, go help those in the re-education camp.
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Aldo
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:35pmThe courts are absolutely closed minded to the concept of right and wrong. As long as they “feel good” about allowing everyone to feel successful or not descrminated against, that’s all that matters.
White folks is doomed!
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txn4justice
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 6:18amWhat a folksy notion.
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702TruthSeeker
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:07pm“aww geee, i don’t want to offend anyone” dumba$$ attitude is going to get white people real far. americans turned themselves into a bunch of politically correct pansies and are being pushed around by all the thugs of the world. DESERVE EVERYTHING THAT’S COMING
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Just_Us2
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:34pmWhen athletes use steroids, they are booted out and everything they ever accomplished is tarnished. Why wouldn’t you treat a minority in the same manner? Everything they accomplish is in doubt. Their degree, their job, etc. I don’t want to wonder if my doctor is competent or compensating. Not a racial dislike….but a racial distrust.
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SIXFRIGATES
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:31pm“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 Jr.
The left has no right to claim civil-rights as a banner of honor. They have turned this country into the opposite of MLK’s dream.
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pamela kay
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:26amSIXFRIGATES, Well said. I agree.
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702TruthSeeker
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:09pmthe left created segregation and started the eugenics movement. and they are now using these idiots to further their agenda
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Secret Squirrel
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:31pm.
There was a case a while back.
A famous symphony selected the best musicians
by asking candidates to play behind a curtain.
That way, the best won, no matter what color, race, sex, etc.
ACLU sued claiming it was racist. What?
It’s time we just started mocking these PC clowns. (no offense to clowns).
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Chuck Stein
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:23amSecret, I’m not doubting you, but could you name the case?
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Government_Goodies
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 7:25amI’m doubting you. Name the case.
There is no honor among squirrels.
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gperky
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:22amHere is one case;
http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/01/0212/7b.shtml
It is getting to be a popular way of auditioning for most Orchestras according to this article. See this article;
http://www.sdsymphony.org/youth-orchestra-auditions
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Mako Dragoon
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 3:05pmI could find no reports of the ACLU sueing an orchestra, but there were a couple of cases of individuals suing an orchestra either to make them do blind auditions or to enforce a blind audition (a woman placed first, but then after her sex was revealed she was demoted to “second chair”)
I wish all hiring process could be this unbiased… I seem to recall that Walt Disney held an audition for one of his leading female roles he didn’t want to see the woman because it didn’t matter what she looked like as it was an animated movie.
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JEANNIEMAC
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:28pmWhy can’t blacks and Latinos get into colleges on their own merits? Affirmative action says that they are not as smart as whites, and have to be given preferential treatment.
the “dumbed down” firefighter and police tests of NYC was the result of blacks and Latinos claiming the tests were discriminatory. Apparently the reading level required for the tests was beyond the abilities of the blacks and Latinos.
Years ago, the method of teaching reading in the public schools was changed from the tried and true phonics method to the “look-say method. This latter method teaches only a very limited vocabulary without the ability to learn new words. This was done deliberately, to turn out an eill educated population, easily controlled. The parochial schools kept the phonics method, which is why their graduates can actually read. If parents demanded vouchers to transfer their children to the parochial schools, their kids would actually have a chance in life.
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pwatkins
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:04amYou are right about the phonics. I have my grandchild in first grade reading on a high school level by teaching her phonics at home, while very few of her classmates are reading at all. These kids will never learn to read if you don’t take the pictures away from them. Her teacher was sending her books home in kindergarten with a bird on the page with the word” bird” under it; kidding you not. We have to educate the teachers before we can educate the children and we don’t need math and science teachers as Obama says,, but some that can teach them to read the words “math and science”. The math and science teachers Obama and the liberal politicians have in mind are only going to teach the climate change lie anyway.
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eek
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 2:02amJeanniemac, you are so right! I’m going to be a proud Mama here, my son is a seconder grader in a parochial school. He is reading at a 5th grade level, he breezes through chapter books with no pictures and will summarize the book up for my husband and I, then write his book reports for school. The school requires a half hour of reading and a report on it per night, he will always go way over his half hour. If he doesn’t know a word he has a notebook that he writes the word in and sounds it out before asking for help, and he will use it as a reference. He wrote his letter to Santa already, asking for books. My cousin’s kid is a 4th grader in a public school and cannot even read one of my son’s old Blue’s Clues books without asking for help and my son will help him sound out the words.
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obfuscatenot
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 6:34amEqual.Equal.Equal-OUTCOME is the desire. If we’re all the same, kool-aid drinking Obots we won’t know what’s about to befall us….we’ll continue to vote for hope, change and revenge- and show our true aptitude. We can only get equality if we round down. Never ever works the other way, in the future they will look at our society and determine we devolved ourselves. Sick, sick, sick.
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Caniac Steve
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:28pmgee I wonder if we could find a way to live being turned inside out..so the RACE Card died..what would people complain,whine moan and peee about then ? no free IMAC/ apple laptop ?
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sparkyrules
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:28pmGeorge Washington, a FLUNKIE Detroit attorney for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, said the ruling is a “tremendous victory.” He predicted the case will move to the Supreme Court.
We’ll see,George.
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SIXFRIGATES
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:27pmIn other news, the New York Giants are handing last years Super Bowl trophy to the St. Louis Rams, because the Rams didn’t earn it on the field. Meanwhile, the Giants were just one of the many teams who earned the right to play for it but there just aren’t enough spots for everyone. Makes sense, right?
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Secret Squirrel
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:27pm.
So if I understand this correctly,
It’s racist for me to support equal treatment of all people.
Do you realize how stupid that is?
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gperky
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:23amWelcome to America 2012!
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iac
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:27pmWhat do you expect when the President was chosen based on Affirmative Action ?
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KangarooJack
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:26pm‘….equal access to the tools of political change…. What?
WHAT???
The State VOTED on this 6yrs ago. WE said NOOOOO!
A student accepted based upon Affirmitive Action 1st gains Admission based upon their color. 2nd qualifies for State AND Federal Special Funding for their College Tuition.
For goodness sake Black people aren’t you sick of this yet? Aren’t you sick of being known as the AA Hire vs. being hired because you’re a great worker? Doesn’t this stick in your craw? I feel the same way regarding dumbing down requirements for females to become firefighters…
Doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman in MY book. NOR the color of your skin. Can YOU lug my Mom down a flight of stairs if the house is burning??? THAT is what matters! So to gain Admission to College is NOT based upon your ACT/PSAT Scores-it’s WHAT COLOR IS YOUR SKIN? Disgusting.
I’m sorry, but AT WHAT POINT can we NOT be doing Reparations for something NEITHER MYSELF NOR MY ANCESTORS had ANYTHING to do with???
Geeze, I have Irish ancestory, can I get freebies for the “Irish need not apply” signs?
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gperky
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 10:25amEvidently you give the blacks more credit than they deserve.
Did you not just witness the election of a failed president? did you not see how horrible he is as a leader but was still re elected>? He was elected because he was black and gives out freebies. Anyone that says otherwise is not being honest. PERIOD!
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yougottabekidding
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:24pmThis means that the non qualified are protected under the equal protection clause, but the qualified are not protected under the equal protection clause. Or the stupid can, the smart can not!
Do I have that right?
Somehow I had the impression that meant everyone was treated the same with out qualifier’s – except military service.
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TxSon
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:23pmWhat a moronic decision! Opposition had equal chance to argue against the amendment and defeat it at the ballot box. Given that constitutional amendments have such high criteria to implement it seems terribly self-serving for the court to use an argument of extraordinary burden to oppose the law. The extraordinary burden was on the ones supporting the amendment, not opposing it.
When will an even playing field stop being an undue burden? How demeaning is it to be told that you can not compete fairly, that you must be given preferential treatment?
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TelepromoterNChief
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:23pmBest person for a job is who gets hired.
All you have to bring to the interview is the race card, best you know straight up that you are NOT the best society has to offer as a potential job candidate.
Get your sorry @$$ back on the bus and eat your peas.
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BODYBAG
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:21pmOnly one thing to say in response:
http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3538mf/
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SIXFRIGATES
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:19pmThis is why you should never visit a black doctor, female doctor, or any other minority doctor. Odds are, there were 500 students smarter and more intelligent who didn’t get in simply because they were white.
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drs1969
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:25pmWith Obamacare, that’s most likely all there will be, plus Pakistanis who want to kill infidels.
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Plan B
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 9:01amPlease explain why you should not visit a women doc? Women are not given preferential treatment for college admission unless they are a minority.
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SIXFRIGATES
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:17pmNothing says fair like choosing a person based SOLELY on the color of their skin.
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CatB
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:16pmSo .. you get “extra credit” for the color of your skin … instead of your grades and hard work. Way to dumb it down … then again .. with the liberal indoctrination at the U of M and other institutions .. pretty much go in dumbed down .. and come out even dumber.
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BODYBAG
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:25pmIm pretty well fed up with being smashed & labeled as a racist, extremist, radical, bigot, hater from sun up to sundown everyday of the week. I just want to live my life in freedom & peace and be LEFT THE F ALONE !!!!!!!!
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Redwing1
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 12:51pmBodybag….get used to it. If you are white and male, you are the target. Look at what they are saying about those who criticize Susan Rice. This is a very slippery slope. We white males are now being targeted. Carry concealed always. No matter where you go. The words that are being used are getting more and more dangerous to whites. All one has to do is take a look and then listen. I can’t believe I am actually saying this stuff. The truth is out there.
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TORCH9
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:14pmEither you Got It’, or you don’t. Why lower the ‘Standards’ of our expectations………
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TSUNAMI_22
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:13pmAffirmative action for minorities = social welfare.
Affirmative action for non-minorities = 55 hour work week with overtime, and mandatory weekends.
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drs1969
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:18pmCan you tell who are becoming the new slaves? Or tax slaves.
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TSUNAMI_22
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:28pmExactly. Strangely enough, I thought we passed an amendment that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude.
The 13th amendment is my answer to Justice Stevens’ ruling on ObamaCare.
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Dushman Kush
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:09pmKudos to the Court. Give these Traitors an inch and they’ll want to administer I.Q. tests to African-American children. This Racism must be brought to a Screeching Halt !!!
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TSUNAMI_22
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:15pmHmmmm…….I.Q. tests……….not a bad idea.
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drs1969
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:17pmWhy don’t you steal directly from the 58%’s pocket and quit asking the gov-mint to do it for you?
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KangarooJack
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:17pmThank You for a full belly laugh! :)
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grayling646
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:23pmThey may even start giving them basic math tests. Oh!! The horror!!!
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TxSon
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:26pmIt’s racism to work on a level field? That is the thinking of a true racist.
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TSUNAMI_22
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:52pm@ txson
The “racist” term is being so over-used that any time you hear it used against you in an argument, just embrace it.
You’d be surprised how fast people shut their hole. What are they going to do? Sometimes it’s funny to watch the accuser squirm.
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Diane TX
Posted on November 16, 2012 at 1:35am@ Dushman Kush
What’s wrong with giving students an IQ test? My entire class took one when I was in the seventh grade. All an IQ test does is to test for someone’s capacity at comprehension.
Why would it be wrong to test Black students?
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jungle J
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:07pmthe weak and the lazy lead the slow and confused way.
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Keatonc333
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:05pmWell done US Court!
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upeopleneedtogetalife
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:12pmSick! Perverted! Wicked is the US Gov’t.
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Keatonc333
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:22pmI am sorry you feel that way.. I for one am happy to be an American!
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drs1969
Posted on November 15, 2012 at 11:23pmAs usual, it’s a Federal Court attacking State’s Rights. Equal Protection, yet some are more equal than others.
People who support these laws are admitting an inferiority exists. That’s why we don’t know any more about BHO’s transcripts. No use admitting the obvious.
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