Editorial July 21, 2003 Issue

Affirmative action and bolder remedies

Editor

Concepts of human equality are enshrined in many nations' founding documents. A few of these documents contain truths so fundamental they have become world standards.

But words and legal precedents—whether in constitutions or high court decisions on issues such as affirmative active in a law school's admissions policies—cannot, of themselves, engineer equality. Actions speak louder.

In the recent University of Michigan Law School decision, however, the United States Supreme Court found it constitutional to consider "the various diversity qualifications of each applicant, including race, on a case-by-case basis," according to the court's majority opinion. In a separate case, Michigan's undergraduate admissions system was struck down because, by using a bonus system based solely on race, it failed to give applicants "individualized consideration."

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