A Black and White Case: How Affirmative Action Survived Its Greatest Legal Challenge

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 333 pages
• Published by: Bloomberg Press April 15, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1576602273
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1576602270
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Weighs: 1 pounds

From Publishers Weekly
Stohr, Bloomberg News's Supreme Court reporter, offers a balanced chronicle of the hotly contested, headline-making litigation brought to prevent the University of Michigan and its law school from using affirmative action in their admissions processes. The conservative Center for Individual Rights brought a constitutional test case by recruiting rejected white applicants (who had higher grades and test scores than admitted blacks) as plaintiffs and filing complaints in late 1997. Stohr follows the unfolding lawsuit step by step, from trial court to appeals court to the Supreme Court, which in 2003 rejected outright numerical advantages for minority applicants, but permitted the university to assemble a diverse class of students containing a "critical mass" of minorities. Throughout, Stohr pays attention to the participants—the plaintiffs, defendants, lawyers and judges—explaining their backgrounds and their stances on affirmative action, and sets out the issues in simple language. Stohr spotlights one fascinating feature of the case: the role of scores of amicus ("friend of the court") briefs filed on both sides. Amicus briefs from the military services, for instance, supported affirmative action, arguing that diversity at military academies is a matter of national security. As Stohr concludes, the Supreme Court assured that "[r]ace-based admissions would be around for at least another generation." 29 black and white photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist
Stohr, a legal reporter, provides a detailed look at the University of Michigan law school affirmative-action program, recently upheld by a slim margin by the U.S. Supreme Court. Stohr covered all sides of this contentious issue: rejected white students whose test scores exceeded those of some black students who were admitted, the philosophy professor who took the university to task for its consideration of race, and the law school dean (who later became the university president) who strongly supports affirmative action in admissions nationally. Beyond the Michigan campus, Stohr talked to members of a conservative legal think tank that had previously targeted racial preferences in admissions to universities in some southern states. As legal representatives stake out their turf, Stohr looks at the fundamental constitutional questions and reflects on the significance of the tight Supreme Court ruling--four in support, four in opposition. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, increasingly leaning toward the middle, carried the day, but the split exemplifies the continued tension surrounding racial issues in the U.S. Vernon Ford
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: A Black and White Case: How Affirmative Action Survived Its Greatest Legal Challenge (Hardcover) This is an excellent book. Whether or not we choose to acknowledge it, every student who has entered an American university over the past 50 years is a product of the affirmative action and diversity policies of our nation's education system. The U. of Michigan case that is the heart of "A Black and White Case" is a landmark ruling that impacts the admission policy of every U.S. university. The issues described in this book are extremely important to each of us as citizens. Everyone interested in the American higher education system sould read this book. Greg Stohr provides an incredibly balanced account of the highly charged issue of race-based admissions policies. Mr. Stohr also does an excellent job of taking very complicated legal facts and analysis and turning them into a fast-moving story that non-legal scholars can follow and understand. This is the most important legal book I have read in several years. It is also a terrific read. I highly recommend this new author.