Supreme Court Rules for New Haven, Ct., White Firefighters over Promotions, Rules Against Nominee Sonia Sotomayor's Appeals Court Endorsement

In a stinging blow to Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, the SCOTUS has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, essentially reversing a decision that Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. The court said in its 5-4 decision that "New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results." The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities. This ruling could singlehandedly alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.

"Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the white firefighters "understandably attract this court's sympathy. But they had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them." Justices Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens signed onto Ginsburg's dissent, which she read aloud in court Monday.

Monday's decision has its origins in New Haven's need to fill vacancies for lieutenants and captains in its fire department. It hired an outside firm to design a test, which was given to 77 candidates for lieutenant and 41 candidates for captain. Fifty six firefighters passed the exams, including 41 whites, 22 blacks and 18 Hispanics. But of those, only 17 whites and two Hispanics could expect promotion. The city eventually decided not to use the exam to determine promotions. It said it acted because it might have been vulnerable to claims that the exam had a "disparate impact" on minorities in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The white firefighters said the decision violated the same law's prohibition on intentional discrimination. Source: Washington Post

What the city of New Haven did was patently racist and should not have been tolerated one iota. There will be backlash from this latest Supreme Court ruling and it will have an effect on Ms. Sotomayor's confirmation hearings. I don't think it will be enough to derail her chances of serving on the highest court, but it is a stinging reversal and plays right into the hands of her detractors who have made it clear that they believe she harbors a racist ideology.