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December 10, 2015|Abigail Fisher, Fisher v. University of Texas, Grutter v. Bollinger, Racial Preferences, Regents v. Bakke, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action

Race Discrimination in College Admissions Should Be Forbidden, Once and for All

by Mark Pulliam|

Since Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the U.S. Supreme Court has viewed itself as the enlightened molder of social consensus, leading the recalcitrant political branches to reach progressive outcomes demanded by social justice.  Sometimes (as with desegregation) the Court manages to get in front of the parade of public opinion, and sometimes (as with same-sex marriage) the Court forces unruly voters to accept a particular end result. But, as with abortion, sometimes the Court miscalculates, becoming enmired in an intractable political dispute.  And in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), the Court—fueled by the conceit of its superior wisdom—divined a “solution” to disparate race enrollments in higher education that has proven to be a quagmire.

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October 16, 2013|Coalition for Responsible Regulation v. EPA, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Supreme Court

The Justices’ Ho-Hum Day

by Michael S. Greve|

Yesterday, the Justices (eight of them—Justice Kagan recused) heard arguments in Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. (Briefs and coverage here.) In the wake of Gratz v. University of Michigan, Michigan voters (by a 58-42 margin) enacted Prop 2, a constitutional amendment that prohibits preferences based on race. The question is whether that amendment violates the Fourteenth Amendment. The theory is a “political process” argument: in competing for university admissions, applicants can still play their cello skills or what have you as a trump—but not their race: those folks must now agitate for another constitutional amendment to re-institute (barely) permissible preferences, and that’s a unique disadvantage. Crackpot?

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Book Reviews

A Mirror of the 20th-Century Congress

by Joseph Postell

Wright undermined the very basis of his local popularity—the decentralized nature of the House—by supporting reforms that gave power to the party leaders.

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The Graces of Flannery O'Connor

by Henry T. Edmondson III

O'Connor's correspondence is a goldmine of piercing insight and startling reflections on everything from literature to philosophy to raising peacocks.

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Liberty Classics

Rereading Politica in the Post-Liberal Moment

by Glenn A. Moots

Althusius offers a rich constitutionalism that empowers persons to thrive alongside one another in deliberate communities.

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James Fenimore Cooper and the American Experiment

by Melissa Matthes

In The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper defended democracy against both mob rule and majority tyranny.

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Podcasts

Stuck With Decadence

A discussion with Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat discusses with Richard Reinsch his new book The Decadent Society.

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Can the Postmodern Natural Law Remedy Our Failing Humanism?

A discussion with Graham McAleer

Graham McAleer discusses how postmodern natural law can help us think more coherently about human beings and our actions.

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Did the Civil Rights Constitution Distort American Politics?

A discussion with Christopher Caldwell

Christopher Caldwell discusses his new book, The Age of Entitlement.

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America, Land of Deformed Institutions

A discussion with Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin pinpoints that American alienation and anger emerges from our weak political, social, and religious institutions.

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About

Law & Liberty’s focus is on the classical liberal tradition of law and political thought and how it shapes a society of free and responsible persons. This site brings together serious debate, commentary, essays, book reviews, interviews, and educational material in a commitment to the first principles of law in a free society. Law & Liberty considers a range of foundational and contemporary legal issues, legal philosophy, and pedagogy.

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