NBC’s headline caught my eye, “Supreme Court ends affirmative action.” USA Today summarized the ruling: Chief Justice John Roberts, a long-time skeptic of race-based policies, stated too many universities concluded wrongly that the touchstone of an individual’s racial identity outweighed skills lessons learned. Furthermore, Roberts indicated that the nation’s constitutional history does not tolerate ‘racial choice.’
Conservatives hailed the decision, pontificating that the Constitution must be “colorblind.” The Great Pumpkin (Trump) reiterated that America experienced a great day. Moderates condemned the ruling, saying affirmative action is vital for remedying historic race discrimination. Like last year’s revocation of reproductive rights in Dobbs v. Jackson, today’s decision achieves a long-standing conservative policy goal, and the Heritage Foundation, the Federalist Society, and the entire conservative legal establishment can party hard tonight.