The Michigan Daily-Thursday, June 24, 1978-Page 5 SAYS RULING HURTS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION Marshall voices emotional dissent WASHINGTON (AP) - Even at almost-70, there was some of the old fire and anguish in Justice Thurgood Marshall as he voiced his dissent in the Allan Bakke case. "The dream of America as the great melting pot has Clot been realized for the Negro," he said. "Because of his skin color, he never even made it into the pot." Marshall said it sadly and the other eight justices looked solemn. Bakke was the most important decision of the year, delayed until the final days of the court's term, brieded, argued, briefed, rebriefed. The justices' faces shoed their weariness. There was, for once, no whispered banter, no humorous darts flew from across the great mahogany bench as often they do. "WE SPEAK TODAY with a notable lack of unanimity," said Justice Lewis Powell, reading the court's divided and redivided opinion. He said it slowly, ap- parently determined that the southern strain in his voice not obscure the im- portance of what he was saying. The depth of the division was evident. It took an hour and five minutes of reading in turn for the justices to display all the facets of a verdict that goes far beyond Allan Bakke. The court ruled that the University of California's medical school at Davis illegally discriminated against Bakke in refusing to admit him. But it also ruled that race can be taken into ac- count in future college admissions programs. AS CIVIL RIGHTS decisions go, Bakke is now in queue with the big ones: Plessy v. Fergluson in 1896, which validated the principle that state- ordained segreation is not wrong, and Brown v. Board of Education-the 1954 decision that said it is. Old phrases-given new meaning by the term "reverse discrimination"- rebounded for Bakke between the 24 Italian marble columns that enclose the Supreme Court chamber. "Money collected by color blind tax collectors should be spent by equally blind tax collectors" . . . "strands of heritage, strands of emotion are plucked by the case" ... "we all know institutions that give preferences to athletes and children of alumni, to the affluent and those who have connection to celebrities and the powerful." LONG BEFORE the justices filed in- to the court yesterday morning, the word was out that this would be the end of this year's Washington guessing game, "Waiting for Bakke." Functionaries refused to say in ad- vance how many decisions there would be this day; normally the number is supplied. Aides made whispered telephone calls to reporter friends the night before. Important people arrived-James Nabrit, who helped argue the 1954 case, Jack Greenberg, past legal director of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Minutes before 10 a.m., the wives of Justices Marshall, Harry Blackmun, William Brennan, John Paul Stevens and Potter Stewart took the VIP seats in the front of the hall. BLACKMUN, ALREADY in his black robe, ushered his wife into the VIP sec- tion. The solicitor general of the United States, Wade McCree, sat in front of the bench awaiting the decision-just as another black lawyer named Thurgood Marshall, later also solicitor general, had awaited Brown in 1954. Forty-five seconds early-the cloks in See MARSHALL, Page 11 Many offered opinions on Bakke WASHINGTON (AP) - Never before in its 189-year history had the nation's highest court attracted so much un- solicited advice in a single controversy as it received in Allan Bakke's case. More friend-of-the-court briefs took sides in the "affirmative action" vs. "reverse discrimination" debate than in the series of cases that led to the Supreme Court's 1954 landmark decision outlawing racial segregation. Not counting those submitted by lawyers for Bakke and the University of California, there were 58 briefs filed with the justices - 42 backing the university admissions policy and 16 siding with Bakke. MANY OF THE briefs were filed jointly in behalf of numerous in- dividuals and groups. The Bakke case split the nation's traditionally liberal alliance of black and Jewish groups. Black civil rights organizations argued that minority-conscious programs are needed to make up for past discrimination. But several Jewish groups contended that the time had come to put all persons' aspirations on an equal competitive footing. In siding with the university, the Rutgers University board of regents said, "This case is a watershed. It marks the place at which the court must decide whether the journey toward a truly race-neutral society will be continued or abandoned." THE LAWYERS' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law had sympathized with Bakke's plight but said, "That is a transitional inequity that is the cost of permitting such programs but it should not alone invalidate them ... absent any element of racial oppression, of perpetuation or protection of preferred positions, or of invidious discrimination against any group." The American Jewish Congress argued, "We submit that the univer- See MANY, Page 11 THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SPEED READING AND STUDY SKILLS Improve your grades by learning how to use your textbook, lecture notes, and time effectively. This course is designed for those who want to develop efficient study habits. Students will learn speed reading with general and text material and reading skills that can be applied to a wide range of subjects. This class offers the benefits of both individual attention and group interaction. Enrollment is recom- mended to all undergraduates (particularly 1st year or transfer students). 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