Monthly Archives July 2013

This topic was discussed on November 18, 2013.

• Are affirmative action programs inherently discriminatory?
• Have they successfully served their original purpose?
  • If not, what criteria should be applied in determining when to end these programs?
• How should the Supreme Court have ruled in the University of Texas case (if not sent back on narrow procedural grounds)?  Why?
• On what basis (if any) should affirmative action be applied?
  • Race?
  • Gender?
  • Economic status?
• What does this imply about the notion of “disparate impact” (in which no intent to discriminate is proven, only an adverse statistical relationship) in applying civil rights law?

Here is a recent NYT article on at least one aspect of the issue:

20131113 Texas University’s Race Admissions Policy is Debated Before A Federal Court (NYT)

This topic was discussed on July 15, 2013

• To what degree did race play a role in the Zimmerman trial?
• Would/should the outcome have been different if the roles were reversed?
• Was the prosecution case effective or defective?
• To what degree was the outcome defined by which side “put on a better show” for the jury?  What might that say about the concept of a jury of peers vs. a decision by a judge (who might be less swayed by a “show”)?