One of the biggest responses to yesterday's decision in the Supreme Court upholding the right of Michigan voters to prohibit discrimination by the state in hiring, education and contracting, has been to point to an earlier decision of the Court that barred local voters from prohibiting busing to achieve racial balance in public schools. I have seen this point made in at least five articles that appear in the liberal media. According to these folks, the Supreme Court yesterday abandoned a long history of using the Constitution to protect the rights of minorities. But that argument is all wrong. Indeed, I wonder whether or not those advancing the argument know just how incorrect they are. Is it deceit or dishonesty?
Let's start by looking at the context of the decisions. In the first decision, the Court was dealing with a mandate of the federal Constitution that segregated schools were unacceptable. "Separate but equal" was no longer acceptable in the USA after the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The federal courts and Congress set in motion operations to get rid of segregation and its vestiges in schools across America. Because of federal requirements, school systems in every state had to desegregate. Busing was one of the tools used to accomplish this task. So, the requirement to prevent segregation was set by the federal Constitution and local voters were not permitted to determine local rules that limited that effort.
In yesterday's decision, the Court was examining rules governing how the state hires, enters into contracts and admits students to public universities. There is no federal requirement that any of these activities must result in equal outcomes for those of all races. There is only a federal requirement that the state may not discriminate on the basis of race as it carries out these functions. The voters in Michigan passed an amendment to their state constitution that merely echoed that same federal requirement: the state is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender and national origin as it carries out these functions. In other words, local voters did nothing to thwart a federal constitutional mandate. These voters merely decided how their own state should carry out functions that were totally within the control of the state and which violated no federal requirements.
The simple truth is that the Supreme Court said yesterday that democracy in America allows states to choose their own rules in situations where no federal laws are broken.
Let's start by looking at the context of the decisions. In the first decision, the Court was dealing with a mandate of the federal Constitution that segregated schools were unacceptable. "Separate but equal" was no longer acceptable in the USA after the 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. The federal courts and Congress set in motion operations to get rid of segregation and its vestiges in schools across America. Because of federal requirements, school systems in every state had to desegregate. Busing was one of the tools used to accomplish this task. So, the requirement to prevent segregation was set by the federal Constitution and local voters were not permitted to determine local rules that limited that effort.
In yesterday's decision, the Court was examining rules governing how the state hires, enters into contracts and admits students to public universities. There is no federal requirement that any of these activities must result in equal outcomes for those of all races. There is only a federal requirement that the state may not discriminate on the basis of race as it carries out these functions. The voters in Michigan passed an amendment to their state constitution that merely echoed that same federal requirement: the state is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, gender and national origin as it carries out these functions. In other words, local voters did nothing to thwart a federal constitutional mandate. These voters merely decided how their own state should carry out functions that were totally within the control of the state and which violated no federal requirements.
The simple truth is that the Supreme Court said yesterday that democracy in America allows states to choose their own rules in situations where no federal laws are broken.
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