Daily Kos not only says the glass is empty, but that we're entering the desert, SCOTUS: Segregation Now, Segregation Forever?.
But Eric Muller sees an oasis in the desert, In Seattle, Diversity Isn't A Black-And-White Issue:
It appears that what Seattle was really after was not “diversity,” but ensuring that no school would be excessively non-white. Perhaps there is a case to be made that compelling benefits flow from having adequate numbers of white students in all of a district's schools (as distinguished from the benefits that flow from true “diversity.”) But I don't think the school district made that case — and in any event, I'm pretty skeptical of the claim.
And at SCOTUSBlog, Tom Goldstein more or less agrees, Analysis: Justice Kennedy and a Warning Against Overreading the School Cases:
One reading of today’s decision in the race cases is that the Supreme Court has outlawed programs that seek to increase racial diversity in the schools. Justice Kennedy’s concurrence does not adopt that view, however. And because his is the fifth vote, it is controlling. The better view, I think, is that the Court today has come close to extending the Grutter model to the lower school context, holding that school districts may account for race as one factor among many in student placement.
I haven't had a chance to read the opinion with the necessary care, but this feels correct. The sky has not (yet) fallen.
