Through its network of 323 grantees, the federally-funded Legal Services
Corporation has been a major force in the establishment of affirmative
action programs throughout the nation. From the famous Bakke case
in the 1970s to major Supreme Court cases in the 90s, legal services lawyers
have been at the forefront of the campaign to make quotas, set-asides and
other heavy-handed racial gimmicks standard practice at all levels of government.
Below is a small sampling of the scope of legal services activities on
behalf of affirmative action over the last 20 years.
LSC Filed Brief Supporting Affirmative Action in Famous Bakke Case
In 1978, the Legal Services Corporation filed an amicus brief supporting
the University of California’s minority set-aside program in the famous
Bakke v. California Regents case. In this case, Alan Bakke, a white medical
school applicant, applied twice to enter the University of California-Davis
Medical School but was rejected even though his medical exam admission
scores and GPA were significantly higher than several minority students
admitted under a special program. Bakke filed suit alleging reverse discrimination.
The US Supreme Court declared the UC-Davis set-aside unconstitutional because
it reserved places for minorities exclusively because of their race. However,
LSC argued that race-exclusive programs like UC-Davis’ were justified because
of the need for minority doctors. LSC also argued that there was a similar
need for minority attorneys who are essential to supporting affirmative
action policies.
See Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, No 76-811 (US Sup.
Ct.) 1978 and “Legal Services History,” Dooley and Houseman, 1984,
p. 10
Mississippi Sued by Legal Services
In 1992, North Mississippi Rural Legal Services went before the US Supreme
Court to argue that the State of Mississippi had failed to desegregate
its universities even though the state had long-since abolished racially-exclusive
admissions criteria. Legal services claimed that the existence of predominantly
white and black universities in the state was inherently discriminatory.
Mississippi argued that it had done its part to promote desegregation when
black students were allowed to attend traditionally white schools in the
late ‘60s. The fact that the once-segregated black universities are still
predominantly black is the result of the free choice of the students themselves.
The court held that Mississippi need only continue its current race-neutral
policies and is under no obligation to pursue more far-reaching affirmative
action programs.
See The American Lawyer, Lyle Denniston, March 1992
LSC Grantee Upholds Reverse Discrimination
In 1992, the Legal Aid Society of Cincinnati helped defeat an attempt
by white firefighter applicants to overturn the city’s affirmative action
plan. The city’s quota system, adopted in the 1970s, required that at least
18% of all fire personnel be minorities. To achieve this numerical
goal, the fire division made it a practice to insure that at least 40%
of all new recruits were minorities. White applicants who scored higher
than minority applicants on the civil service exam but were rejected sued
the city for reverse discrimination. However, the Legal Aid Society intervened
in the suit to argue that the use of a written test which has a disproportionate
impact on minorities violates the affirmative action plan. It seems that
if minority applicants were evaluated according to the same rules as white
applicants less than 10% -- not 40% -- of new recruits would be minorities.
A US Court of Appeals agreed with Legal Aid and ruled that the white applicants’
constitutional rights were not violated.
See Jansen v. City of Cincinnati, No. 89-3783 (US App. Ct.)
1990
Legal Services Files Baseless Discrimination Suit
East Texas Legal Services sued the city of Beaumont seeking damages for several black police officers who alleged discrimination in the department’s disciplinary and promotion policies. However, the federal appeals court hearing the case ruled in favor of the Beaumont Police Department because of the comically baseless allegations of East Texas’ clients. For instance, one of the former officers complained that his being fired for shoplifting at a 7-11 was patently unfair and racially motivated. Another fired officer claimed racial discrimination motivated his dismissal even though he was clearly guilty of a litany of professional violations including sleeping in his patrol car and failing to back up his fellow officers. The court also rejected an officer’s claim that he was wrongly denied promotion to a S.W.A.T. team on account of race when it was brought to light he couldn’t shoot straight -- an essential skill in this elite unit.
See Martin v. City of Beaumont, B-87-1076 (US App.
Ct.) 1992
LSC Grantee Claims Racist Conspiracy Behind Firing of State Trooper
Community Legal Services of Philadelphia sued the Pennsylvania State
Police for violating the civil rights of Ronald Jones when they fired him
for incompetence. Originally recruited as part of a minority set-aside
program and graduating last in his class at the State Police Academy, Jones
had trouble from the beginning in discharging his duties. After one year
of training with experienced troopers, Jones failed to demonstrate proficiency
in patrolling, conducting investigations and other basic police functions,
and was summarily dismissed from duty. However, Community Legal Services
claimed that Jones was the object of a conspiracy directed by a racist
training Captain who was determined to fire minority troopers. The evidence
for such a scenario was so weak that Community Legal Services’ case came
down to arguing that the Captain’s failure to make every effort to
improve the performance of incompetent minority troopers should be taken
as a sign of discriminatory intent. Rejecting this “fragile...web...of
speculation,” a US District Court ruled in favor of the State Police.
See Jones v. Pennsylvania State Police, 89-6001 (US Dist. Ct.)
1992