Affirmative Action Is Radical Supreme Court's Latest Casualty

Affirmative action died today at the hands of the Supreme Court’s conservative constitutional revolution. In a 6-3 decision, written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court overturned nearly 50 years of precedent and held that it’s unconstitutional for universities to take account of racial diversity in their admissions.

The opinion eviscerated the diversity arguments that have become central to many universities’ self-conception over the last few decades. Roberts wrote that the goals of diversity were too diffuse and nonspecific to be measured; that since admissions are zero-sum, giving help to students of some races necessarily hurts those of others; and that there was no end in sight to programs that the Supreme Court warned 20 years ago needed an eventual sunset.