I am quoted in Houston Chronicle on Use of Race After Fisher and Shelby County

June 27th, 2013

Rick Dunham wrote a piece in the Houston Chronicle about the use of race after Fisher and Shelby County, in which I am quoted:

Legal scholars said the nation’s highest court is sending a clear message about policies that differentiate among Americans on the basis of race.

“What the Supreme Court is saying is that using race even for benign purposes such as educational diversity is more odious than the evil they hope to combat and can only be used in the narrowest of cases,” said Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law.

But because the court, in both cases, did not address the issues directly, it will take years of lawsuits and legislative action to sort out the precise meaning of the conservative majority’s rulings.

“It’s going to be something of a mess,” Blackman said. “The states can now do what they want, and it’ll be hard for the civil rights groups to stop it.”