"Starting in 1995, though, with Adarand Constructors v. Pena, the Court,
in an opinion by Sandra Day O’Connor, began applying 'strict scrutiny'
to laws that favor racial minorities—viewing affirmative action, in
effect, as a form of racial discrimination. O’Connor’s opinion drew a
stinging dissent from John Paul Stevens. 'There is no moral or
constitutional equivalence between a policy that is designed to
perpetuate a caste system and one that seeks to eradicate racial
subordination,' he wrote. 'Invidious discrimination is an engine of
oppression, subjugating a disfavored group to enhance or maintain the
power of the majority. Remedial race-based preferences reflect the
opposite impulse: a desire to foster equality in society.' In its
embrace of judicial oversight of affirmative action, Obama’s view
appears closer to O’Connor’s than to Stevens’s."
--"The Obama Brief," by Toobin, The New Yorker
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