June, 29 2009, 01:46pm EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Drew Courtney or Josh Glasstetter,Phone: 202-467-4999,Email:,media@pfaw.org
Supreme Court Rules Against Diversity in Ricci
The Supreme Court today ruled 5-4 to overturn the Second
Circuit's decision in Ricci v. Stefano.
The Court's ruling severely limits the ability of governments and private
corporations to create a diverse workforce.
People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:
WASHINGTON
The Supreme Court today ruled 5-4 to overturn the Second
Circuit's decision in Ricci v. Stefano.
The Court's ruling severely limits the ability of governments and private
corporations to create a diverse workforce.
People For the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker issued the following statement:
"Anyone looking for more evidence of how conservative the Supreme
Court has become will be well served by today's decision. The Court
today seriously undermined Title VII's protections against acts that may
appear harmless on their face but that, in fact, have a discriminatory
effect.
"Title VII dramatically improved the diversity of police and fire
departments that previously had few, if any, minorities or women. Under
the restrictions put in place today, it will be much more difficult for these
departments to continue to build a diverse workforce.
"The Court today set a new standard for how states and cities
across the country can operate--and in the process exposed conservative
cries for 'judicial restraint' as utterly hypocritical. It
seems conservative legal activists are perfectly happy to have judges rewrite
the law as long as they get the result they want. In Ricci, the far right wing of the Court defied
Congress's well thought out design for encouraging diversity and preventing
discrimination in favor of its own preferred policy. If the ruling
has any upside, it's that we'll no longer have to listen to the
Right's cries of 'judicial activism' with a straight
face."
People For the American Way works to build a democratic society that implements the ideals of freedom, equality, opportunity and justice for all. We encourage civic participation, defend fundamental rights, and fight to dismantle systemic barriers to equitable opportunity. We fight against right-wing extremism and the injustice it fosters.
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