This Term's Racial Affirmative Action Cases

Today's USA Today has this article that includes this key passage:

The school districts in Louisville and Seattle are at the heart of a pair of legal disputes, now before the U.S. Supreme Court, that test whether public schools can use race as a factor in determining where students go to school. The cases, to be heard by the court Dec. 4, have drawn national attention because they could affect policies in districts across the country.

The key legal question in the Louisville and Seattle lawsuits — which were filed by parents of white students who weren't allowed to attend the schools of their choice — is whether school-assignment plans that use students' race as a factor violate the Constitution's guarantee of equality.

It's an emotionally charged issue that gives the court its first chance to weigh in on racial policies since Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito joined the nine-member court last term. The new justices are former government lawyers who, early in their careers, showed reluctance toward government race-based policies.

Alito's actions in the cases could be especially significant because he replaced the retired Sandra Day O'Connor, who often joined the court's four-member liberal wing to form a majority in favor of affirmative action policies. In 2003, her vote in a case involving the University of Michigan law school ensured that colleges could consider applicants' race to achieve diversity.