In Parents Involved in Cmty. Schs. v. Seattle Sch. Dist. No. 1, 127 S. Ct. 2738 (2007), the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated public school programs in Seattle and Kentucky that assigned students to various district schools based in part on their race in order to attain racial diversity.
Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the 5-4 majority, held that:[1]
- The principle that racial balancing is not permitted is one of substance, not semantics. Racial balancing is not transformed from "patently unconstitutional" to a compelling state interest simply by relabeling it "racial diversity." While the school districts use various verbal formulations to describe the interest they seek to promote -- racial diversity, avoidance of racial isolation, racial integration -- they offer no definition of the interest that suggests it differs from racial balance.
References
- ↑ 127 S. Ct. at 2758-59.