A ruling that could reshape U.S. university admissions
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court rejected race-conscious affirmative action at colleges and universities, declaring that admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unlawful and sharply curtailing a policy that had long been a pillar of higher education.
The two colleges’ “admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the equal protection clause,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority. Both programs “unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping and lack meaningful end points,” he added.
In a rare dissent from the bench, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that affirmative action was crucial to countering persistent and systematic racial discrimination. In all, six justices issued opinions across more than 200 pages that were notable for sometimes harsh language and starkly differing accounts of the nation’s history and the role race plays in contemporary society.
Effects: Student populations of elite institutions are all but certain to become whiter and more Asian and less Black and Latino. The decision could complicate diversity efforts elsewhere, narrowing the pipeline of highly credentialed minority candidates and making it harder for employers to consider race in hiring.
Context: The court’s conservative supermajority, with three justices appointed by Donald Trump, has been moving at a brisk pace to take on some of the thorniest and most divisive issues in American society, including abortion, guns and now race — all in the span of a year.
Analysis: “This was a momentous decision,” said Anemona Hartocollis, who covers American higher education for The Times. “We don’t know exactly how it will play out, except that we know that the traditional way of doing things is over.”
‘We don’t forget, we don’t forgive’
Riots after the police shooting of a teenager moved into a third night across France, with protesters in more than a dozen cities burning cars, setting fire to buildings and vandalizing and lighting fireworks outside police stations. About 180 people have been arrested and 170 officers have been injured, France’s interior minister said.
The 17-year-old victim, identified as Nahel M., was shot dead by a police officer in Nanterre, a suburb of Paris. The teenager had been driving in a bus lane, the prosecutor said, and when officers tried to stop him, he drove through a red light to get away. He then got stuck in traffic, and officers approached the car. The prosecutor said he was killed by a single shot that went through his left arm and chest.
Initial news media reports said that the teenager had driven into the two officers on the scene. But a video of the shooting that emerged shortly afterward appeared to contradict that account, showing that the officer who fired the shot was not in any immediate danger because the car was driving away. The diverging accounts…
2023-06-29 23:40:17
Link from www.nytimes.com
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