The story of the Supreme Court's reversal of a Court of Appeals decision by current nominee Sotomayor has been the subject of a lot of political fodder in the highly charged atmosphere of the nomination hearings. But there's a more fundamental story here in the blame game.The irony is that this is really the fault of Congress and its unwillingness to write clear laws. I agree with this article's analysis of the situation:http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/07/13/ricci-v-destefano-bad-laws-racism/
Congress writes these laws in such a byzantine fashion so that all the players leave the table satisfied. Everything thinks they win, but the guidance for employers, like the city in this case, is impossible to understand or follow. Congress punting to satisfy multiple lobbying interests leaves no clear guidance for either the public affected by such laws, or the courts. Thus, court decisions occur all over the map on laws that are not clear. The fault here really belongs on Congress, and not on Sotomayor, or the Supreme Court, and as the article says, noone here was racist. Under this impossible to understand law, no matter what the city does, someone will sue it.
