What is the real basis for this decision? Two of the concurring opinions disagree. The Thomas concurrence attacks affirmative action in general as a horribly misguided attempt by elites to treat black people as a disadvantaged group, rather than discrete individuals; it argues that the Court has correctly disposed of decades of precedents permitting affirmative action under limited circumstances. The Kavanaugh concurrence takes the position that the Court is simply implementing its previous statement–one that, in my opinion, it had no basis or authority to make–that affirmative action must be limited by time, and time is up. Who is right here?
To be honest, I’m not sure, although the time limit clearly was important to the majority. One thing is certain, however; reparations will never survive this kind of scrutiny. As with Dobbs, the legal loss is a political victory for the left.