UPDATE: 6/29/09 Supreme Court finds for New Haven Firefighters
UPDATE Below
A current case that is before the Supreme Court of the United States is likely to get a lot of attention over the summer; as President Obama nominates Judge Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, the Ricci vs. DeStefano case involving New Haven, Connecticut firefighters will be on the front burner.
The Next Big Battle
Ricci vs. DeStefano is a case involving reverse discrimination charges against the city of New Haven by 20 firefighters. The firefighters took a test for promotion but had the tests thrown out due to the fact that 27 African Americans took the test and didn’t score well enough to be promoted.
Frank Ricci is the firefighter who brought the suit, along with 19 other white colleagues and 1 Hispanic. The firefighters had their tests results thrown out and no promotions were granted by the city of New Haven; the reason being that no African American candidates emerged from the testing with a score high enough to promote. Rather than face the scrutiny of not promoting an African American, the city of New Haven decided to disenfranchise all involved by promoting no one.
The case was dismissed and went to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals where Judge Sonya Sotomayor sided with the city of New Haven and upheld the dismissal in a one paragraph opinion. The case is now before the United States Supreme Court; where Judge Sotomayor could be spending the rest of her life upon confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
This is clearly a case of reverse discrimination, but in the mind of liberals such a thing does not exist. The only discrimination that exists in the mind of a liberal is against minorities, gays, any religion other than Christianity, illegal immigrants, and against terrorists who are not legal citizens of the United States.
The left wing media is already trying to get out in front of this touchy case for Judge Sotomayor.
This would be a sticky situation for her confirmation except for the huge majority that liberals hold in the U.S. Senate. It will be very interesting to see how Ricci vs. DeStefano comes out as the Supreme Court rules on it later this year. Here’s a guess, 5-4 in favor of the New Haven firefighters.
UPDATE: 6/29/2009
I promise, I did write the above sentance one month ago; The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the city of New Haven was wrong to get rid of a promotion exam because no African Americans scored well.
This will probably give conservatives a little ammo when they begin to fight the Sonya Sotamayor nomination; remember, she favored the city of New Haven in this one when she served on the 2nd circuit court of appeals and she can’t escape it. It’s a matter of public record now.
New Haven officials said that it acted to avoid a lawsuit by minorities, of course they did. And of course the decision in the Supreme Court New Haven case was 5-4.
New Haven Firefighters Video
May 27th, 2009 at 4:11 am
I can’t believe anybody could support the nullification of those test results. What a bunch of PC crap.
These guys performed the best on a pre-defined, completely fair test. And now, because their skin isn’t dark enough, they’re not being rewarded.
Pure rac*sm, no way around it.
May 27th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Yeah. We can’t have the best and brightest. We must have a rainbow. Even if some of the colors in the rainbow are not real bright.
Liberal thinking dictates that color is more important actual talent and skill. That is how we got Barrack Hussien Obama.
May 27th, 2009 at 8:09 am
Even if some of the colors in the rainbow are not real bright.
It’s not about certain colors being “not real bright” though; I’m sure that, in terms of percentages, black folks can perform just as well as white folks on this or any other test. It just happened that, in this case, the folks who did the best happened not to be African-Americans. And apparently that truth is not warm and fuzzy enough for these folks.
That is how we got Barrack Hussien Obama.
Ehh, I don’t think that’s exactly true; the guy is a suave, charming intellectual with a pretty good feel for the game of politics. I’m not saying I like the guy, but I also don’t think he owes his election to his skin color.
May 27th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
christina ricci wanted to be a fireman?
May 28th, 2009 at 7:08 am
Surely SCOTUS will rule for these men. Here’s the oath a justice swears to:
I, [NAME], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me as [TITLE] under the Constitution and laws of the United States. So help me God.”
Only a Liberal can explain giving a promotional test, because obviously the department needed to promote people into these positions, and then turning down everyone for the promotion (not just one or two – 19) because the skin color was not deemed politically correct.
May 28th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Hey lisab, that’s exactly what I was thinking while I was writing this post. Christina Ricci could probably make a good argument in front of the Supreme Court.
I’m just glad I wasn’t the only one out there who was thinking about Christina Ricci. Or at least Christina Ricci’s chest.
May 28th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
This is what pisses me off about liberals. If these guys were to damn stupid or did not take the time to study THEN THEY DON’T DESERVE TO BE PROMOTED. The cowards in New Haven were so scared that they threw out the test results. Politically correct is ruining this country more and more every day. The conservatives with ther crap and the liberals with there’s. How about common sense. You fail a test you get what you deserve. NO PROMOTION! What if no whites passed then what? I am glad to be a moderate and an independent. Liberals, conservatives and organized religion is screwing this country every damn day with your ridiculous agendas. Use your brains and common sense. This has nothing to do with race, It’s all about some people actually took the time to study. I would not want a firefighting captain directing men at a fire when he could not pass a test to be promoted. Shame on you New Haven and your stupid politics. The people of New Haven should recall all those idiots and put people that are not afraid to make the correct decision in power. Those men who passed the test should be promoted.
May 28th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Nicely put Philip, only problem is that common sense doesn’t exist within liberalism.
July 16th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
[...] Quite the contrary. But white guys abused by affirmative action! Now THAT’s a cause the Forces of White Grievance can rally around! …But before Pat Buchanan and company get too far gone on Ricci as their [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
The fact is that a fireman’s job is to put out fires in a timely manner while getting everyone to safety and providing additional help during other distress related calls. How is it that a written test can tell you best qualified to do this. If my life depended on a person being able to “do” or to explain “how to do” then i want the person who can “do”. I think that this is the point. The test should have never been administered in this fashion to begin with.
I truly find it hilarious that so many whites get off on villifying President Obama when you are the ones that put him in office. Some of you smarter whites should realize that your professionals as well as your trash put him in the Whitehouse. Blacks are a minority and to let you tell it most of us are in prison or can’t read the ballot! It must be hard to stomach that the world is at the beck and call of the most hated thing in American History, the black man. I say this because anything that this man does, many of you don’t even try to see his good intentions. Your precious Bush drove this country straight into the ground and the “scraps” to Obama to create something viable again. So to all of you screaming “we want our country back,” it’s carcass is lying in front of his fireplace. You can call Chaney for the head. It is posted above his mantle.