The USSC and overreach, there's a history

[skuthorp]

Article pointed out to me by Mike Field,
"This February, the U.S. Supreme Court will celebrate its 233rd birthday. Twice before over that quarter millennium, the Court has precipitated national crisis by attempting to move into the center of power and govern the country from the bench. The first crisis arose during the 1850s, when a Court dominated by slaveowners decided to end the slavery controversy by awarding total and permanent victory to the South. The second took place during the 1930s, when a majority of the “nine old men,” in the face of national upheaval, set out to block any attempt at progressive government, labor rights, or economic justice."

Number 3 is now in progress……………...
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2022/1...-great-crisis/

Interesting to see if democracy and justice survive this court.

[David G]

Article pointed out to me by Mike Field,
"This February, the U.S. Supreme Court will celebrate its 233rd birthday. Twice before over that quarter millennium, the Court has precipitated national crisis by attempting to move into the center of power and govern the country from the bench. The first crisis arose during the 1850s, when a Court dominated by slaveowners decided to end the slavery controversy by awarding total and permanent victory to the South. The second took place during the 1930s, when a majority of the “nine old men,” in the face of national upheaval, set out to block any attempt at progressive government, labor rights, or economic justice."

Number 3 is now in progress……………...
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2022/1...-great-crisis/

Interesting to see if democracy and justice survive this court.

Indeed. And there have been lesser outbursts as well. Lesser, but just as perversely motivated.

[Gerarddm]

They blocked Drumph's tax returns from the House committee. Incredible.

John Roberts will be regarded with disdain by history as Roger Taney is.

[Keith Wilson]

They blocked Drumph's tax returns from the House committee. Incredible.

Only a temporary hold while they consider it; pretty much standard practice. If they support Trump in this, I'll agree with you, but I doubt they will.

[rbgarr]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...equity/671869/

[Too Little Time]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...equity/671869/

From the link

In district-court proceedings, I testified that racial diversity is crucial on college campuses, but also that universities can achieve it by giving a much larger admissions boost to economically disadvantaged applicants than they presently do—and without resorting to racial preferences.

I never gave much thought to the economic position of those who benefited from racial preferences. But I have said that minorities in general get a poorer K-12 education and that should be dealt with.

[Keith Wilson]

That's a very good article. Race and class get mixed up and confused, and sometimes class divisions are at least as important as racial one. I don't much care about Harvard, but UNC Chapel Hill is an ordinary large state university. I'm very ambivalent about this decision; overturning current 'affirmative action' rules wouldn't be all bad, by any means, although it would have bad aspects. The lengths that colleges go to to keep out Asians are just bizarre.

A quote:

Harvard has 15 times as many students from the richest fifth of the population as the poorest fifth. About as many students come from the top 1 percent by income as the bottom 60 percent. A multiracial aristocracy is more inclusive than an all-white aristocracy, but it is still an aristocracy. Likewise, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill claims to be “the University of the people.” Yet students in the top income quintile are 16 times as numerous on campus as those in the bottom fifth.

These schools, and many like them, have managed to create racial diversity without much economic diversity. Statistical analyses of evidence produced in the litigation show that Harvard and UNC give Black students more than twice the admissions boost that economically disadvantaged or first-generation college students receive. (At Harvard, the boost for legacy students is also much larger than for first-generation college students.) Seventy-one percent of Black, Latino, and Native American students at Harvard come from college-educated homes with incomes above the national median; such students are in roughly the most advantaged fifth of families of their own race. This is trickle-down economics.

[rbgarr]

Harvard's admissions percentages. "Affirmative action" for the wealthy, athletic and legacies: https://veritasessays.org/college-ad...d-requirements