Affirmative Action and the Courts
Overview of Constitutional Challenges to Racial Preferences
Not until 1989 did a majority of the Supreme Court justices resolve the proper constitutional standard for review of governmental classifications by race enacted for a remedial or other "benign" legislative purpose. Disputes prior to City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson (1989) yielded divergent views as to whether State affirmative action measures for the benefit of racial minorities were subject to the same "strict scrutiny" as applied to "invidious" racial discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause, an "intermediate" standard resembling the test for gender-based classifications, or simple rationality. In Croson, a 5-to-4 majority settled on strict scrutiny to invalidate a…
