It is an interest in continuing to combat the remnants of segregation caused in whole or in part by these school-related policies, which have often affected not only schools, but also housing patterns, employment practices, economic conditions, and social attitudes. Grutter emphasized that admitting minority students for the purpose of achieving racial balance, i.e., using a quota for this purpose, is unlawful. The issue here is whether the constitution permits, rather than prohibits, voluntary State action aimed toward reducing and eventually eliminating de facto school segregation. In the Seattle case, the District Court granted the school district summary judgment, finding, inter alia, that its plan survived strict scrutiny on the federal constitutional claim because it was narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest. These include the types of activities or programs offered, the teachers, and the schools location. See Adarand Constructors, Inc., 515 U. S., at 237 ([S]trict scrutiny in this context is [not] strict in theory, but fatal in fact (quoting Fullilove, 448 U. S., at 519 (Marshall, J., concurring in judgment))). Rather, such powers should have been temporary and used only to overcome the widespread resistance to the dictates of the Constitution. 515 U. S., at 125 (Thomas, J., concurring). Second, broad-range limits on voluntary school choice plans are less burdensome, and hence more narrowly tailored, see Grutter, supra, at 341, than other race-conscious restrictions this Court has previously approved. Le Lys Rouge (The Red Lily) 95 (W. Stephens transl. 3 Seattle School Dist. The limitation of this power to instances where there has been de jure segregation serves to confine the nature, extent, and duration of governmental reliance on individual racial classifications. Third, real-world efforts to substitute racially diverse for racially segregated schools (however caused) are complex, to the point where the Constitution cannot plausibly be interpreted to rule out categorically all local efforts to use means that are conscious of the race of individuals. in No. See also Quillian & Campbell 541. 1, p.29 (It is universally held, therefore, that each state shall determine for itself, subject to the observance of the fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed by the federal Constitution, how it shall exercise the police power . Justice Kennedy asserts that the dissent must "brush aside two concepts of central importance" to uphold the racial classification in the case. This fundamental principle goes back, in this context, to Brown itself. Eight of those States condition approval of transfers to another school or district on whether the transfer will produce increased racial integration. While we do not suggest that greater use of race would be preferable, the minimal impact of the districts racial classifications on school enrollment casts doubt on the necessity of using racial classifications. App. As to tracking enrollments, performance and other statistics by race, tracking reveals the problem; it does not cure it. Is each to be the subject of litigation in the District Courts?); Brief for Kansas on Reargument in Brown v. Board of Education, O.T. 1953, No. In 2000, the District Court that entered that decree dissolved it, finding that Jefferson County had eliminated the vestiges associated with the former policy of segregation and its pernicious effects, and thus had achieved unitary status. The plans at issue are not overly different from other plans that school districts have used with the express or implicit approval of courts. Is Seattle free on remand to say that its schools were de jure segregated, just as in 1956 a memo for the School Board admitted? A Connecticut statute states that its student choice program will seek to preserve racial and ethnic balance. Conn. Gen. Stat. It is no answer to say that these cases can be distinguished from Brown because Brown involved invidious racial classifications whereas the racial classifications here are benign. By finding the School Districts plan unconstitutional, districts will be limited in their ability to provide such benefits. Id., at 39a40a. This will surely, however, restrict school districts efforts to achieve diversity and the benefits that arguably come with it. Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U. S. 306, 371 (2003) (Thomas, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (citing Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peńa, 515 U. S. 200, 239 (1995) (Scalia, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment)). See ibid. Brief for Petitioner at 3536. of Oral Arg. Roberts provides the following string citation: Parents Involved in Cmty. I shall not accept the school boards assurances on faith, cf. But Louisville should be able to answer the relevant questions on remand. 32 (2004); A Great Decision, Hindustan Times (New Dehli, May 20, 1954), p.5; USA Takes Positive Step, West African Pilot (Lagos, May 22, 1954), p. 2 (stating that Brown is an acknowledgment that the United States should set an example for all other nations by taking the lead in removing from its national life all signs and traces of racial intolerance, arrogance or discrimination). Initial plans were implemented in Mobile, Alabama and Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and in a number of other southern districts in the face of total racial segregation. As the Court explains, a school with 50 percent Asian-American students and 50 percent white students but no African-American, Native-American, or Latino students would qualify as balanced, while a school with 30 percent Asian-American, 25 percent African-American, 25 percent Latino, and 20 percent white students would not. Ante, at 1516; see also Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae in No. Argued December 4, 2006Decided June 28, 2007* Respondent school districts voluntarily adopted student assignment plans that rely on race to determine which schools certain children The plan required redrawing school attendance zones, closing 12 schools, and busing groups of students, selected by race and the first letter of their last names, to schools outside their immediate neighborhoods. The District first gave priority to students who had a sibling at the school. [Footnote 26], What was wrong in 1954 cannot be right today. PICS did not respond to this argument in either of its reply briefs. http://reportcard. But under the Seattle plan, a school with 50 percent Asian-American students and 50 percent white students but no African-American, Native-American, or Latino students would qualify as balanced, while a school with 30 percent Asian-American, 25 percent African-American, 25 percent Latino, and 20 percent white students would not. But the district vigorously defends the constitutionality of its race-based program, and nowhere suggests that if this litigation is resolved in its favor it will not resume using race to assign students. L. 95561, Tit. Similarly, the fact that Joshua has been granted a transfer does not eliminate the Courts jurisdiction; Jefferson Countys racial guidelines apply at all grade levels and he may again be subject to race-based assignment in middle school. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007) Opinions Syllabus Opinion (Roberts) Concurrence (Thomas) Concurrence (Kennedy) Dissent (Breyer) Dissent (Stevens) Justia Opinion Summary and Annotations Annotation Primary Holding wa. See 426 F.3d 1162, 11931194 (2005) (Kozinski, J., concurring) (That a student is denied the school of his choice may be disappointing, but it carries no racial stigma and says nothing at all about that individuals aptitude or ability). Chief Justice Roberts announced the judgment of the Court, and delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I, II, IIIA, and IIIC, and an opinion with respect to Parts IIIB and IV, in which Justices Scalia, Thomas, and Alito join. 7231. Lacking a cognizable interest in remediation, neither of these plans can survive strict scrutiny because neither plan serves a genuinely compelling state interest. 1 ET AL. Post, at 43. It applied that label to 26 schools, including 4 high schoolsCleveland (72.8% minority), Franklin (76.6% minority), Garfield (78.4% minority), and Rainier Beach (58.9% minority). Therefore, as a general rule, all race-based government decisionmakingregardless of contextis unconstitutional. ices Office, District Summaries 19992005, available at See generally Washington v. Seattle School Dist. The bulk of the data in the record was collected using the 10 percent band, see n. 1, supra. The dissents approach confers on judges the power to say what sorts of discrimination are benign and which are invidious. See ante, at 1112 (Thomas, J., concurring); ante, at 3, 17 (opinion of Kennedy, J.). This decision departs from long-standing jurisprudence on school desegregation. (b)Despite the districts assertion that they employed individual racial classifications in a way necessary to achieve their stated ends, the minimal effect these classifications have on student assignments suggests that other means would be effective. These decisions illustrate well how lower courts understood and followed Swanns enunciation of the relevant legal principle. Opposition to Writ of Certiorari at 20; Brief for Respondent at 16. The first is the difference between de jure and de facto segregation; the second, the presumptive invalidity of a States use of racial classifications to differentiate its treatment of individuals. Although the matter was the subject of disagreement on the Court, see id., at 346347 (Scalia, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part); id., at 382383 (Rehnquist, C.J., dissenting); id., at 388392 (Kennedy, J., dissenting), the majority concluded that the law school did not count back from its applicant pool to arrive at the meaningful number it regarded as necessary to diversify its student body. In 1996, the school board adopted the present plan, which began in 1999. 458 U. S., at 472, n. 15. [Footnote 3] The only justification for refusing to acknowledge the obvious importance of that difference is the citation of a few recent opinionsnone of which even approached unanimitygrandly proclaiming that all racial classifications must be analyzed under strict scrutiny. See, e.g., Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peńa, 515 U. S. 200, 227 (1995). What other numbers are the boards to use as a starting point? 2528. Swann addresses only a possible state objective; it says nothing of the permissible meansrace conscious or otherwisethat a school district might employ to achieve that objective.