Legal Commentary

SCOTUS' Ricci Ruling Expected Monday

By Big Tent Democrat

AP:

A closely watched discrimination lawsuit by white firefighters who say they have unfairly been denied promotions is one of three remaining Supreme Court cases awaiting resolution Monday.

That would be Ricci v. DeStefano. I have written numerous posts on Ricci (particularly on existing "disparate impact" jurisprudence and extreme conservative judicial activism) and will write many more I am sure after the SCOTUS announces its decision. The reason is obvious - Judge Sonia Sotomayor's joining of a panel affirmance of a district court's dismissal of a white firefighter's Title VII action. One of the reasons Ricci has become a flash point is the incompetence of American journalism. Consider the AP report I link:

Sonia Sotomayor, nominated to take Souter's place, was one of three appeals court judges who ruled that officials in New Haven, Conn., acted properly in throwing out firefighters' promotions exams because of racially skewed results.

(Emphasis supplied.) That is not what any court decided. It is not a court's place to determine whether anyone "acted properly." In civil cases, it is to determine whether a plaintiff has a cause of action - to wit, to decide if the defendant acted UNLAWFULLY (and of course associated issues such as whether a plaintiff has gleaned sufficient evidence to survive summary judgment, to sustain a jury verdict, etc.).

So Monday will be a big day for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. It seems likely that the extreme conservative judicially activist Roberts' Court will find the one Title VII case it actually likes - the one brought by a white guy and will be willing to overturn a 38 year old precedent, Griggs, in order to support the white firefighter's case.

Some people might call such a ruling empathetic. But empathy for the downtrodden white male is always acceptable in the United States.

I am sure I'll be writing much more on this on Monday.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on June 27, 2009 (boomark / email).