supreme court justices carry lifetime appointments, and their decisions carry final judgment on major political issues including civil liberties, due process, education, federalism, and privacy. recent decisions include revised statements on abortion, property, and prayer. this article profiles president ford's effort to support the university of michigan in bakke v. the university of michigan, a landmark affirmative action case. ford marshalled recommendations from leading retired military generals in an amicus brief to the court. the aritcle explains that while consevatives have pilloried ford for his major supreme court appointment, john paul stevens best reflects ford's centrist politics.
in an august 1999 opinion editorial for the new york times, ford explained that affirmative action required universities to provide necessary diversity. regression would relegate “future college students to suffer the cultural and social impoverishment that afflicted my generation.” and further:
A university, after all, is both a preserver of tradition and a hotbed of innovation. So long as books are kept open, we tell ourselves, minds can never be closed. . . Tolerance, breadth of mind and appreciation for the world beyond our neighborhoods: these can be learned on the football field and in the science lab as well as in the lecture hall. But only if students are exposed to America in all her variety.
go blue!
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