O’Connor’s Affirmative Action Timeline May Undermine Precedent

Welcome back to another edition of Opening Argument, a reported column where I dig into interesting questions of law and unpack issues dividing appeals courts. Today, a look at the timeline for affirmative action.

Whatever slim chance there is for affirmative action to survive, even if it’s just for five more years, could hinge on an aside, tucked at the end of the US Supreme Court’s 2003 decision upholding the use of race in college admissions.

During marathon arguments Oct. 31 in two cases challenging race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina, members of the ...