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WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.
New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide, potentially limiting the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for decisions when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination against minorities.
"Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the white firefighters "understandably attract this court's sympathy. But they had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them."
Justices Stephen Breyer, David Souter and John Paul Stevens signed onto Ginsburg's dissent, which she read aloud in court Monday.
Kennedy's opinion made only passing reference to the work of Sotomayor and the other two judges on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals who upheld a lower court ruling in favor of New Haven.
But the appellate judges have been criticized for producing a cursory opinion that failed to deal with "indisputably complex and far from well-settled" questions, in the words of another appeals court judge, Sotomayor mentor Jose Cabranes.
"This perfunctory disposition rests uneasily with the weighty issues presented by this appeal," Cabranes said, in a dissent from the full 2nd Circuit's decision not to hear the case.
As the court wraps up for the summer, decisions are also expected today in two other high profile cases.
One involves campaign finance law. The court is considering whether a movie that was critical of Hillary Rodham Clinton during her presidential campaign should be subject to the same regulations as campaign ads.
The scathing 90-minute documentary about the former New York senator and current secretary of state was made by a conservative group. It wanted to air television ads in important Democratic primary states and makes the movie available to cable subscribers on demand, without complying with federal campaign finance law.
The Federal Election Commission and a lower court in Washington have said the not-for-profit group, Citizens United, must abide by campaign finance restrictions. The high court's conservative justices appeared especially skeptical of that view when the case was argued in March.
The other case concerns states' ability to investigate alleged discrimination in lending by national banks.
The Obama administration says federal law prohibits states from looking at the lending practices of those banks, even under state anti-discrimination laws.
Federal courts have so far blocked an investigation begun by New York, which is backed by the other 49 states, of whether minorities were being charged higher interest rates on home mortgage loans by national banks with branches in New York.
President Obama's proposed overhaul of financial regulation could make the outcome of the case less important. The proposal would create a consumer protection office and states would be empowered to enforce their own laws, with some degree of coordination with the new federal agency.
In addition to the three pending decisions, the court also is expected to announce whether it will hear several important cases in its term that begins in October.
Among those cases are:
* A plea by victims of the Sept. 11 attacks to reinstate a lawsuit against Saudi Arabia and several Saudi princes over charitable donations that allegedly were funneled to al-Qaida.
* A request by Chinese Muslims who continue to be held at Guantanamo Bay that the court put teeth into last year's ruling granting detainees some rights by allowing a judge to order their release into the United States. The 13 Uighurs who remain at the U.S. naval base in Cuba may be sent to the tiny Pacific nation of Palau, a move that probably would end their court case.
* A bid by convicted cop killer Troy Davis of Georgia to get a new court hearing so that he can present evidence suggesting his innocence. Seven of nine key witnesses against Davis have recanted their earlier testimony, but state and federal courts have so far refused to order a new hearing.
* Once their work is done, four justices are heading to Europe for teaching gigs. Roberts will be in Galway, Ireland. Justice Samuel Alito will travel to Innsbruck, Austria. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is heading to Rome. Justice Anthony Kennedy will spend July in Salzburg, Austria, for the 20th straight year.
* In keeping with his practice of shunning the spotlight, Souter is expected to return to his home in New Hampshire with little fanfare.
Supreme Court Overrules Sotomayor's Firefighter Decision, 5-4 Vote
A group of 20 New Haven firefighters won a major victory from the U.S. Supreme Court Monday morning in their reverse discrimination lawsuit against the city.
On a 5-4 vote, the court ruled with the firefighters. One Hispanic and 19 white firefighters (the Ricci of Ricci vs. DeStefano) say they were denied promotions after passing an exam. The city of New Haven (and Mayor John DeStefano) threw out the test results because no minorities scored high enough for a promotion. That, the city expressed, would leave them open for discrimination lawsuits from black firefighters.
The court resolved the city's fear of litigation can not justify the refusal to apply the test, reports Scotusblog.com.
"We conclude that race-based action like the City’s in thiscase is impermissible under Title VII," wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy in the majority opinion.
The case is expected to have wide-ranging implications for employment law.
Monday is also Associate Justice David Souter's final day on the court. President Obama's choice to replace Justice Souter, Judge Sonia Sotomayor, was part of a three-judge panel that rejected an appeal by the group of New Haven firefighters. This decision reverses the panel's verdict that the city was correct in dismissing the test results.
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