COVERITLIVE.COM

11:59

Ruben Navarrette - Hi. Welcome to the chat.

12:01

Ruben Navarrette -

Today's topic is the Supreme Court's decision Monday in Ricci vs DeStefano, where -- in a 5 to 4 decision -- the justices said the New Haven Fire Department acted improperly in tossing out a promotion exam because no African-Americans scored high enough to earn promotions.

12:02

SignOnLiveChatModerator - Ruben, could you give us some background in the case?

12:02

Ruben Navarrette - Even as a critic of racial preferences, I challenge the whole concept of reverse discrimination. It's modern fiction.

12:03

Ruben Navarrette - In this case, a group of mostly white firefighters sued the city of New Haven for throwing out a promotion exam.

12:04

Ruben Navarrette - The city, after consulting with lawyers, thought it was going to be sued - as it has successfully five times since 1972 by black firefighters -- because the test had a disparate impact on black test-takers.

12:04

Ruben Navarrette -

The conservatives on the court, having lectured us about the evils of "judicial activism," indulged in it here.

12:05

Ruben Navarrette - The test was about management, and not all management skills can be measured in a pen and paper test.

12:06

Ruben Navarrette -

Judging from my mail, passions run high out there on affirmative action and plenty of people think that whites are being systematically discriminated against. Not me.

12:07

SignOnLiveChatModerator -

Navarrette's column about this subject is posted below for those interested in reading it

12:07

SignOnLiveChatModerator - A case of judicial activism

12:07

Ruben Navarrette -

For me, the fact that New Haven has a history of promoting whites torpedoes the idea that white firefighters were denied promotions because they're white.

12:08

SignOnLiveChatModerator - Ruben, what do you consider "judicial activism" and why do you think this is an example?

12:09

Ruben Navarrette -

That's the point. The term is typically applied to decisions we don't agree with. If we agree with the outcome, it's just a good sound decision. If not, it's judicial activism.

12:10

Ruben Navarrette - But the textbook definition is when judges make laws. That's what the five conservatives did here.

12:10

Ruben Navarrette - The law on race discrimination case read one way last week, and now it reads another way. Ergo, judicial activism.

12:11

Ruben Navarrette - Also, on the issue of race, clearly we're two different countries....

12:12

Ruben Navarrette - some people think that affirmative action expands opportunity, while others think it amounts to a new kind of discrimination

12:13

Ruben Navarrette - People took their long-standing beliefs on the issue of affirmative action and then tried to shoe horn them into the Ricci decision. Doesn't fit.

12:14

SignOnLiveChatModerator - Ruben, liberals are most often accused of judicial activism. Yet, you apply the term here to conservatives. Are they just as guilty?

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