Ketanji Brown Jackson Wrung One Thing Out of John Roberts’ Affirmative Action Opinion

This is part of Opinionpalooza, Slate’s coverage of the major decisions from the Supreme Court this June. In his majority opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts enshrined the principle of a “colorblind” Constitution, scorning both universities’ diversity programs as invidious “racial discrimination” that’s legally indistinguishable from the segregation of Jim Crow. Yet Roberts left the door open for schools to consider “how race affected” an applicant’s life, a cryptic concession apparently extracted by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her brilliant and boiling dissent. Dahlia Lithwick: One aspect of the chief justice’s decision that’s really important is the Great Essay-Off—whether there is a back door to bring up race as part of a college application. Related From Slate Ketanji Brown Jackson Offers a Grave Warning in a Case Liberals Think They Won Lithwick: At the end, the chief justice writes: “Despite the dissent’s assertion to the contrary, universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.” So it’s like he’s opening the essay door, closing the essay door, opening the essay door, and closing it again.