Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Contact
Ace:aceofspadeshq at gee mail.com Buck: buck.throckmorton at protonmail.com CBD: cbd at cutjibnewsletter.com joe mannix: mannix2024 at proton.me MisHum: petmorons at gee mail.com J.J. Sefton: sefton at cutjibnewsletter.com Recent Entries
Friday ONT
Otterly Cute Cafe Ramaswamy, Musk Meet with Congressional Republicans to Talk DOGE Plus: Update on Assassin DEI-Crazy Biden Administration Finds One Group It Won't Extend Hiring Prefernces To: Veterans, Of Course Judge Dismisses Toughest Charge Against Daniel Penny Biden Looks Literally Old As Death Now Trans-Identifying Men Invade Women's Bathrooms at Capitol The Jury is Deadlocked in the Daniel Penny Soros Prosecution "Trust the Science (TM)" High Priest Jake Tapper: Is Global Warming Causing This Increase in Earthquakes? Notably Potent Pugilist Keir Starmer Demands That His MPs Ram Through an Elder Euthanasia Bill Without Taking the Time to Debate, or Even Read, It Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Top Headline Comments 06-29-09 |
Main
| Okay, One More Thing on Ricci »
June 29, 2009
Supreme Court Overturns J. Sotomayor in Ricci v. DeStefanoThe Court holds 5-4 that New Haven's decision to discard the test results because too few non-Hispanic minorities passed violated the Civil Rights Act. Opinion is here (PDF). Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, joined by the Chief Justice and Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito. The liberal four dissented in an opinion drafted by Justice Ginsburg. Reading it now; updates to come. More: Alright. As with the Section 5 Voting Rights Act case last week, the Court avoids the constitutional issues and attempts to resolve the dispute according to the existing statutory scheme. In this case that means resolving the conflict between two sections of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. Under Title VII, New Haven was prohibited from intentional acts of employment discrimination based on race. This is called disparate treatment. Title VII also prohibits policies or practices that are not intended to discriminate but in fact have a disproportionately adverse effect on minorities. This is called disparate impact. Disparate impact is often demonstrated with statistical analyses. The facts of this case set the two types of prohibited conduct against each other. New Haven could either intentionally discriminate against the successful white and Hispanic candidates or its firefighter promotion policy (based on the test results) would have a disproportinately adverse impact on black candidates. And more: Prior to this decision some lower courts--including the district court in his case--believed that actions taken to avoid disparate impact simply cannot be considered disparate treatment. But now the Court says: All the evidence demonstrates that the City chose not to certify the examination results because of the statistical disparity based on race—i.e., how minority candidates had performed when compared to white candidates. As the District Court put it, the City rejected the test results because “too many whites and not enough minorities would be promoted were the lists to be certified.” Without some other justification, this express, race-based decisionmaking violates Title VII’s command that employers cannot take adverse employment actions because of anindividual’s race. Ultimately, the Court holds (borrowing from equal protection cases) that before an employer can engage in intentional discrimination to avoid disparate impact, the employer must have a "strong basis in evidence" to believe it will be subject to disparate impact liability if it fails to take the race-conscious, discriminatory action. That determination rests on the facts of the particular case. In this case, the majority determined that New Haven had no strong basis in evidence to believe it would be subject to liability (not just litigation, but actual liability) had it certified the firefighter exam results. The test was objective, and taken for a job-related purpose (obviously). Fear of litigation does not justify disparate treatment. Last Update: Justices Scalia and Alito have interesting concurring opinions (especially Alito), but its stuff we've all heard before. The interesting thing--to me, anyway--is just how far apart the majority and the minority are. The majority have no problem believing that when Congress said "no hiring decisions based on race" they really meant it. The minority justices are ready to forgive hiring decisions based on race, so long as the right race comes out ahead: Here's Justice Kennedy warning of what the Court absolutely must avoid: A minimal standard could cause employers to discard the results of lawful and beneficial promotional examinations even where there is little if any evidence of disparate-impact discrimination. That would amount to a de facto quota system, in which a “focus on statistics . . . could put undue pressure on employers to adopt inappropriate prophylactic measures.” Watson, 487 U. S., at 992 (plurality opinion). Even worse, an employer could discard test results (or other employment practices) with the intent of obtaining the employer’s preferred racial balance. And here's Justice Ginsburg on her preferred outcome: By order of this Court, New Haven, a city in which African-Americans and Hispanics account for nearly 60 percent of the population, must today be served—as it was in the days of undisguised discrimination—by a fire department in which members of racial and ethnic minorities are rarely seen in command positions. "Command presence and other qualities" is Justice Ginsburg's euphemism for candidates with the right race. She complains that the Court does not remand for further fact-finding, but she can hardly complain when both the district court and the Second Circuit bolstered their flawed conclusions by holding that the facts were not in dispute. | Recent Comments
JackStraw:
">>Bay State Road, lol.
Yea, I figured. Beacon S ..."
Deplorable Ian Galt: " I know some younger ones who don't like to drive ..." Scarymary: "I know some younger ones who don't like to drive a ..." Tammy-al Thor: "I think there's some sort of cabal bent on destroy ..." runner: "Teleportation would make things more efficient. ..." Deplorable Ian Galt: ">>My frat was near there, one block from where the ..." runner: "I don't like to drive. Waste of time. ..." Deplorable Ian Galt: "Son was complaining that the tounger generation do ..." JackStraw: ">>My frat was near there, one block from where the ..." publius, Rascally Mr. Miley (w6EFb): " I've screamed at the TV, "Run lady, run! It's ..." Scarymary: "I'll believe that 20% of Xers can muddle their way ..." Deplorable Ian Galt: "Right in the middle of Kenmore Square around the c ..." Recent Entries
Friday ONT
Otterly Cute Cafe Ramaswamy, Musk Meet with Congressional Republicans to Talk DOGE Plus: Update on Assassin DEI-Crazy Biden Administration Finds One Group It Won't Extend Hiring Prefernces To: Veterans, Of Course Judge Dismisses Toughest Charge Against Daniel Penny Biden Looks Literally Old As Death Now Trans-Identifying Men Invade Women's Bathrooms at Capitol The Jury is Deadlocked in the Daniel Penny Soros Prosecution "Trust the Science (TM)" High Priest Jake Tapper: Is Global Warming Causing This Increase in Earthquakes? Notably Potent Pugilist Keir Starmer Demands That His MPs Ram Through an Elder Euthanasia Bill Without Taking the Time to Debate, or Even Read, It Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |