Plan B Forum

Scalia: Black students do better at 'less-advanced' schools than UT

Black students may do better at "slower-track" schools than the University of Texas at Austin, Justice Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Wednesday as the state's flagship defended its race-conscious admissions policies before the high court.

Scalia, a well-known critic of affirmative action policies at stake in the case, also suggested that black scholars come from "less-advanced" schools.

"Most of the black scientists in this country don't come from schools like the University of Texas," he said, citing a brief, according to transcripts from the hearing. "They come from lesser schools where they do not feel that they're -- that they're being pushed ahead in -- in classes that are too -- too fast for them."

UT is defending its consideration of race in admissions for about a quarter of incoming students. Three-quarters of UT's incoming class is automatically admitted through a state law granting admission to the top-ranked high school graduates in Texas.

The Texas Exes, UT's alumni group, said in a tweet Wednesday that Scalia's comments were "racist and offensive."

UT has broad backing, but higher education leaders and civil rights groups are concerned that Abigail Fisher, a white woman from Sugar Land who says she was discriminated against when UT rejected her in 2008, could strike a serious blow to affirmative action.

The core of UT's argument is that it needs to consider race to ensure diversity among its student body -- a goal supported by the U.S. government, the country's biggest businesses, former military leaders and many more, who filed dozens of briefs in UT's favor.

Scalia, however, questioned whether UT needs to increase its black student population -- which currently makes up about 4 percent of the student body and has not grown in a decade.

"I'm just not impressed by the fact that – that the University of Texas may have fewer (black students). Maybe it ought to have fewer," Scalia said. "I don't think it – it – it stands to reason that it's a good thing for the University of Texas to admit as many blacks as possible."

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—A new study conducted by legal scholars indicates that Justice Antonin Scalia would fare better if he served as a judge at a court that was “less advanced” than the United States Supreme Court.

According to the study, Scalia’s struggles to perform his duties in a competent fashion stem from his being inappropriately placed on a court that is “too demanding” for a person of his limited abilities.

“Forcing Justice Scalia to weigh in on complex legal issues that he lacks the background or aptitude to comprehend is, at the end of the day, cruel,” the study said.

The legal scholars theorized that Scalia would be more likely to thrive in a “lesser court where he does not feel that he is being pushed to hear cases that are too challenging for him.”

“If Scalia were reassigned to a ‘slow track’ institution such as a town traffic court, that would be better for everyone,” the study recommended.

(The Borowitz Report)

Andy Borowitz (born January 4, 1958) is an American writer, comedian, satirist, and actor. Borowitz is a New York Times-bestselling author who won the first National Press Club award for humor. He is known for creating the satirical column The Borowitz Report, which has an audience in the millions and was acquired by The New Yorker. In a profile on CBS News Sunday Morning, he was called "one of the funniest people in America."

Lord Jim wrote: Nice try their Guin...

You almost suckered me...

I know who our Guin is; who's their Guin?

Lord Jim wrote:

I know who our Guin is; who's their Guin?

Jimminy Crickets, another Meade wannabe...

It's like some kind of cult...