Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor blasted the Roberts court over their decision to uphold the ban on affirmative action in Michigan.
The Supreme Court upheld Michigan's ban on affirmative action Tuesday, but not without a blistering dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
Sotomayor said the decision infringed upon groups' rights by allowing Michigan voters to change "the basic rules of the political process ... in a manner that uniquely disadvantaged racial minorities."
"In my colleagues' view, examining the racial impact of legislation only perpetuates racial discrimination," Sotomayor added. "This refusal to accept the stark reality that race matters is regrettable. As members of the judiciary tasked with intervening to carry out the guarantee of equal protection, we ought not sit back and wish away, rather than confront, the racial inequality that exists in our society."
Although she didn't mention him by name, Sotomayor was apparently alluding to Roberts' frequently-quoted line from a 2007 case: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
Elsewhere in her opinion, Sotomayor quoted that line from Roberts and described it as "out of touch with reality." Her attack wasn't lost on the chief justice, who filed a brief concurring opinion responding to her, alongside Justice Anthony Kennedy's 6-2 controlling opinion.
This court is rendering decisions that are changing this country in a very negative way and it's not going to stop anytime soon.
