
Via CBS/AP:
(CBS/AP) The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected public school assignment plans that take account of students’ race.
The decision in cases affecting schools in Louisville, Ky., and Seattle could imperil similar plans in hundreds of districts nationwide, and it leaves public school systems with a limited arsenal to maintain racial diversity.
The court split, 5-4, with Chief Justice John Roberts announcing the court’s judgment. Justice Stephen Breyer wrote a dissent that was joined by the court’s other three liberals.
It is the biggest school desegregation ruling in more than a decade, and was led by parents challenging the way race is used to assign students to schools for the purpose of integration, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.
The court heard arguments in December on cases from Seattle and Louisville that could affect hundreds of school districts across the nation.
Thursday’s session will likely be the justices’ last until October.
The Seattle School District used to use a race-based “tiebreaker” to assign some students to high schools in the interest of diversity. A parents group called that illegal discrimination and sued.
SCOTUSblog’s Lyle Denniston, in explaining this ruling, calls it ‘historic.’
The high court also ruled today to block a mentally ill killer’s execution in Texas.
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It’s time to stop micro-managing school integration. I agree with the decision.
We have reached the point in the evolution of our society where, or so it seems to me, the benefits of educating children as near as possible to their home outweighs the notion that children must be bussed to and fro just to provide statistics for bureaucrats. If a remedy is still needed, it must come not from the courts but from society’s ability to overcome tribalism. May this happen. And soon.
We have come a long way since 1954, and just how far, I think, can be seen in the results of the last “American Idol.” In the days of separate but equal (actually separate but unequal), it is hard to imagine “America” would have voted for Jordin Sparks, as vivacious as she is, because her father is African American and her mother is white.
I think Justice Roberts has it just right when he says:
“The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
Clarity itself.
And apparently Justice Kennedy leaves the door open for judicial review in extreme cases: according to the blog ST linked to, “Kennedy said in his concurrence that ending racial isolation may sometimes be a compelling interest in public education, and can be pursued with race as ‘one component’ of the plan to achieve racial diversity.”

As for the other decision: I am definitely opposed to executing the mentally ill, and pretty much opposed to executions in general, although there are a few people I’d gladly volunteer to stick the needle into.
As we all know, there have been social engineering programs in place the moment that race was the reason to provide financial aid and fund their schooling, as far back as early 70’s. Perhaps earlier, but that’s the timeline when I became personally aware of it. Part and parcel to the wave swept political, economic and cultural liberalism that’s been fostered and has consistently shown substandard results for nearly forty years.
The old adage of working for *it* will always be true, as those who’ve fought to win something can attest to. All the results one needs to see that stem from the life on a platter disposition, are the examples that run the range of extreme cases like the bimbo recently released from prison, to the common criminals doing time for their various deeds with their associative poor me attitude! The common thread is stupidity squared.
The government can’t make people smart, as even our latest display of Senatorial insanity reaffirms. Entitlement mentality should be abolished if one ever hopes to approach the semblance of equality. The world is not a fair place and there will never be the fabled equality, but there can be balance with utilization of what was once upon a time referred to as *Common Sense*. The blatantly obvious lacking in daily government and personal lives of FAR too many, who still believe that freedom is free and so is everything else, is a major cause for concern and redirection!