U-M's Pres. Coleman recipient of McCree Award

By John Minnis Legal News University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman's ceaseless dedication to diversity was recognized recently by the Federal Bar Association, Eastern District of Michigan Chapter. Coleman received the McCree Award for the Advancement of Social Justice at the federal bar's annual Wade Hampton McCree Jr. Memorial Luncheon Feb. 23 at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in downtown Detroit. The McCree Award is given to individuals or organizations that promote and work toward social justice. The keynote speaker was Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California, Irvine Law School. Speaking on behalf of the McCree family was Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree, son of revered Wade Hampton McCree Jr. McCree Jr. was the first African American appointed to the Wayne County Circuit, the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Michigan and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was the second African American to serve as Solicitor General of the United States. Introducing Coleman was Evan Caminker, dean of the U-M Law School. he said, "It is so fitting that Mary Sue Coleman receive today the McCree Award for the Advancement of Social Justice for her courageous advancement of the values of diversity." Coleman was appointed the university's 13th president in August 2002. Less than a year into Coleman's tenure at Michigan, the U.S. Supreme Court in Barbara Grutter v. Lee Bollinger ruled that race can be used in university admission decisions. Grutter was a U-M Law School applicant. The university's affirmative action program was blocked, however, when Michigan voters in November 2006 banned the use of race and gender preferences in public university admissions and government hiring and contracting. In accepting the award, Coleman said, "I feel very humble in accepting this award, and I only accept it on behalf of the entire team at the University of Michigan." Saying "our work is never done," she quoted Martin Luther King Jr.: "'Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.'" "His words certainly apply to our campus community. We remain vigilant. Diversity and openness will always be Michigan values. We have to work at it every single day and every single year. Creating and supporting diversity strengthens our campus." Introducing the keynote speaker, Caminker noted that as founding dean, Chemerinsky created the U-C, Irvine Law School from scratch, "from whole cloth." An expert on the composition and impact of the conservative Roberts court, Chemerinsky noted that the Supreme Court's docket has decreased markedly over the past four years -- 73, 75, 67 and 68 cases, respectively, from 2010 back to 2007. "For much of the recent years," he said, "the court has been arguing little more than two cases a year. Not just fewer civil rights cases, but fewer cases of all types. As the number of cases has gone down, the opinions have gotten longer." Citizens United, for example, was 157 pages, and McDonald v. Chicago was 220 pages, he said. "When it matters most," Chemerinsky said, "it is an Anthony Kennedy court. Kennedy is in the majority in most court decisions. In 14 out of 17 5-4 decisions, Kennedy was with the majority." "Mostly we are appealing to a single justice," Chemerinsky said. "My brief (before the court recently) was a shameless pandering to Justice Kennedy." He noted too that under Roberts, all decisions impacting the law have been in the conservative direction. "In 5-4 decisions down ideological lines, Kennedy is more likely to side with the conservatives," Chemerinsky said. "He sides with the conservatives more than twice the time." Public schools are increasingly racially divided, he said, adding that Chief Justice John Roberts once wrote that diversity is "not of any compelling state interest." "By almost every measure, American schools have been increasingly racially segregated," Chemerinsky, said, "and I believe the Supreme Court deserves much of the blame for this. "Roberts says the Constitution requires color blindness. It does not. It requires equal protection. The only hope that historic (civil rights) decisions will survive is in Justice Kennedy, who has never voted for affirmative action." Chemerinsky said that the conventional wisdom is that President Barack Obama nominee, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, will vote the same as Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, whom she replaced. Stevens, though nominated by a Republican president, Gerald Ford, was considered a liberal on the court. "I'm skeptical," Chemerinsky said of Kagan. "No one has known less about a new justice since Sandra Day O'Connor." Sonia Sotomayor, 56, is the most consistently liberal associate justice on the court, Chemerinsky said. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the oldest, 78. Antonin Scalia and Kennedy are 74. Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are 60 and 62, respectively. Roberts, at 56, could serve to mid-century, as could Sotomayor. "I think the bottom line as you think about this court," he concluded, "is that if you are politically conservative, this is a court to rejoice over." Published: Thu, Mar 10, 2011

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