Nino sez: Segregation Will Solve the Problem!

When I started paying attention to Fisher v. University of Texas, back when the Court was considering granting cert for the first time in 2012, I was but a young 21-year-old, with light in my eyes and hope in my heart. Now, at a weary and jaded quarter-century, I cannot help but wonder if there will ever be a time when some court, somewhere, is not pondering Abigail Fisher's 2008 rejection from UT.

Now that Antonin Scalia has shown himself to be a supporter of segregation, maybe commentators will start delicately suggesting that he is no longer fit for service on the Supreme Court. “I’m just not impressed by the fact that…the University of Texas may have fewer [African American students]. Maybe it ought to have fewer.” Remember back in 2013 when Scalia said, without being asked, that he believes in the devil?

SCALIA: I even believe in the Devil.

INTERVIEWER: You do?

SCALIA: Of course! Yeah, he’s a real person.

Well, it’s now clear that Scalia’s right. The devil is a real person, and Scalia knows from personal experience.

And for today’s Supreme Court Edition of “Men Not Allowing Women to Speak”:

Scalia, the old white guy who believes in segregation, stopped the only woman of color on the Court, Justice Sotomayor, from asking Bert Rein (you guessed it: another white man!) a question and virtually scolded her for it. Rein then tried to stop the other female justice participating in the case, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from asking even a simple clarifying question. Soon after that, he did his best to speak over Justice Sotomayor when she had the audacity to, you know, do the job of a justice and ask questions.

In a successful effort to blow my mind, Justice Samuel Alito was the only justice to really raise the problem of standardized admissions tests (though I don’t trust his motives). Quoth Alito: “[T]here are many who think that SAT scores and ACT scores are culturally biased. […] Well, it’s rather strange that we construct the process that may disadvantage African-American and Hispanic students for an ostensibly race-neutral reason,” and soon adds that “the record showed that the students who have lower SAT scores but did better as a—by measure by high school rank did better at University of Texas; isn’t that—isn’t that the case?” In other words, SAT scores are not particularly predictive of academic achievement for admitted students. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli’s illuminating response: “I’m not sure what the answer to that is.” Yippee.

And ultimately, we are told we now need affirmative action for the sake of “corporate America” and the military. Martin Luther “The Greatest Purveyor of Violence in the World Today: My Own Government” King, Jr., would surely be proud! How far progressivism has come!

What will ultimately happen in Fisher? I dare not predict. I have come to believe in a nightmare scenario in which the Court hears then remands the case every few years. Decades from now, Abigail Fisher’s spirit will haunt the Supreme Court building, waiting for the day when she will finally get her $100 application fee back.