December 04, 2006

The Anthony Kennedy Blue-Plate Special

Looks like those school desegregation plans that were before the Supreme Court today are going to get knocked down - and hard - in a 5-4 vote.

After relaying the blow-by-blow of this particular debate, Dahlia Lithwick launches into an analysis of (many would argue) the most powerful judge in the United States (and therefore, the world?):

He looks like he is about to write an opinion that says there is a compelling state interest in desegregating schools but that the systems in Louisville and Seattle give him the heebie-jeebies. He will add that he looks forward to some future hypothetical case in which some school district somehow remedies racial imbalances without accounting for race.

This brand of jurisprudence is the Kennedy blue-plate special. He is officially waiting for the perfect facts before he decides environmental cases, racial gerrymandering cases, and possibly voluntary desegregation cases, too. He'll agree with the liberals in theory, agree with the conservatives in specifics, and nobody will know what to do about anything.

Posted by armand at December 4, 2006 10:03 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Law and the Courts


Comments

more worthy highlights of the piece:

Thomas seems to lean forward to speak in the final two minutes of argument. Hearts stop. But then, he apparently changes his mind.

Outside the court this morning, hundreds of protesters swarm the plaza chanting what sounds to me like: "Roberts, Alito, Scalia, and Thomas … bladah yappa lappa doop." What they should perhaps be chanting instead is: "Two-four-six-eight, Justice Kennedy, make up some constitutional rules—you're driving us freakin' crazy."

Lithwick at her sardonice best.

Posted by: moon at December 5, 2006 10:27 AM | PERMALINK
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