The Michigan Daily - michiganclaily.com
Thursday, March 8, 2012 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycomThursday, March 8, 2012 - 5A
PROPOSAL 2
From Page 1A
Supreme Court upheld the Univer-
sity's admissions policy that con-
sidered race in the holistic review
of an applicant. Rather, the case
examined whether an applicant's
presentation of his or her racial
background can be considered in
their application.
Rosenbaum said the execution
of Proposal2 in Michigan is a form
of inequity, and the case was mon-
umental as a civil rights hearing.
"In 2012, the way to discrimi-
nate is to take off the table racial
topics," Rosenbaum said. "It's to
say we cannot have advocacy -
pro or con - about racial topics."
BAMN national coordinator
Donna Stern said in a press release
yesterday that the consequences
of Proposal 2 are profound for
racial minorities in Michigan.
"Prop 2 has already sharply
reduced opportunities for tal-
ented young black, Latino and
Native-American students to
become doctors, lawyers, engi-
neers, professors and other lead-
ers," Stern said in the release. "It
is leading to a new form of Jim
Crow - separate and unequal -
in our nation."
African-American enrollment
at the University has decreased
by 15 percent from 2006 to 2010.
Enrollment in the University Law
School has declined by 28 percent,
according to the release.
Reverend Wendell Anthony,
president of the NAACP's Detroit
branch, said, in the BAMN press
release that the current stance on
race in the admissions process is
detrimental to the state's higher
education system.
"Proposal 2 treats those who
value equal opportunity unfairly,
diminishing the quality of our sys-
tem ofhigher education," Anthony
said.
In an article published yester-
day in the Detroit News, Michigan
Attorney General Bill Schuette
said the ban on affirmative action
is rooted in constitutional values
of equality.
"Ourtcitizens approved an
amendment to ensure everyone
has equal opportunity under the
law," Schuette told the News,
pledging to defend the amend-
ment in court.
Jennifer Gratz - awoman from
Southgate, Mich. who successfully
sued the University in 1997 for its
former admissions process that
gave points based on racial back-
ground, and was ruled unconstitu-
tional by the U.S. Supreme Court
in the 2003 case Gratz v. Bollinger
- told the News that she thinks
the ban will be upheld.
"I believe that court will move
swiftly to reverse the three-panel
decision and uphold the will of the
voters of Michigan," Gratz said.
Gratz said the ban against affir-
mative action has strong legal
standing.
"There isn't a legal scholar that
I have spoken with that has indi-
cated that the ruling was faulty,"
Gratz said, according to the News.
"It takes way too much mental
gymnastics to saythat ending race
preferences is discriminatory and
I believe that ruling was extreme-
ly faulty."
The University, which is a
named defendant in the case,
declined to comment on the
appeal.
SUPREME COURT
From Page 1A
a commitment to integrity,"
McCormack said. "I would have
in mind all of the work I've done
on behalf of clients over the years
trying to get justice."
McCormack has received a
number of awards during her
time at the University, including
the Detroit & Michigan National
Lawyers Guild Award in 2012,
the Patriot Award from the
Washtenaw County Bar Asso-
ciation in 2011 and the Justice
for All Award from the Criminal
Defense Attorneys of Michigan
in 2010.
She has also run clinics dealing
with general litigation, domestic
violence and ethics in order to
provide practical experience for
students in the Law School.
In 2009, McCormack founded
the Michigan Innocence Clinic,
which uses non-DNA evidence
to prove wrongful accusations
of individuals convicted in
Michigan courts. The Clinic has
worked to exonerate five sus-
pects in its three years of exis-
tence.
McCormack said the clinic is
intended to provide justice and
public security when the justice
system is unable to do so.
"One of the hopes of the work
of the clinic is to show the ways
in which - when the justice sys-
tem gets it wrong - communities
are less safe and none of us are
better off," McCormack said.
Kimberly Thomas, a clinical
professor of law, said if elected,
McCormack's presence will be
greatly missed at the University
since she would have to resign
from her position to remain
impartial as a justice.
"(McCormack) puts anempha-
sis on getting students to look
hard and think for themselves,"
Thomas said. "She has made a
positive impact on the faculty."
Paul Reingold, a clinical pro-
fessor of law, said McCormack's
persistence and ambition are
valuable assets in her campaign.
"She has worked very hard to
get the nomination. If she gets it,
her hard work will pay off, and it
will give her a leg up in the cam-
paign," Reingold said.
Law School student Jus-
tin Benson wrote in an e-mail
interview that McCormack
would provide useful insight and
knowledge to the Court.
"Given that she is co-director
of the Innocence Clinic, I believe
that she may bring a perspective
to the bench that I believe is lack-
ing," Benson wrote.
WANT TO WORK IN THIS OLD
BUILDING?
Military leader talks
" of risk for U.S. in Syria
Defense Secretary
warns against
involvement in
unrest
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Defense Secretary Leon Panet-
ta pushed back on Wednesday
against fresh demands for U.S.
military involvement in Syria
to end President Bashar Assad's
deadly crackdown on his people.
"What doesn't make sense is
to take unilateral action right
now," Panetta told the Senate
Armed Services Committee
about advising President Barack
Obama to dispatch U.S. forces.
"I've got to make very sure we
know what the mission is ...
achieving that mission at what
price."
The panel's top Republican,
Sen. John McCain of Arizona,
said the estimated 7,500 dead
and the bloodshed calls for U.S.
leadership that a Democratic
president, Bill Clinton, dis-
played during the Bosnian war
in the 1990s and that Obama
eventually showed on Libya last
year.
"In past situations, America
has led. We're not leading, Mr.
Secretary," McCaintold Panetta.
The Pentagon chief later
added that the United States is
not holding back and is leading
in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria and
the war on terrorism.
Testifying before the commit-
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tee, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey sibility of military action, say-
and Panetta offered a caution- ing the Obama administration
ary note to the call by McCain continues to assess the situation
to launch U.S. airstrikes against and would adjust its strategy as
Assad's regime. necessary.
"This terrible situation has no Dempsey said among the mil-
simple answers," Panetta told itary options are enforcement
the panel. of a no-fly zone and humanitar-
Obama has resisted calls to ian relief. He said a long-term,
step into the turmoil in Syria sustained air campaign would
to stop Assad's crackdown pose a challenge because Syria's
on protesters. He told a news air defenses are five times more
conference Tuesday that the sophisticated than Libya's. He
international community has said Syria's chemical and bio-
not been able to muster a cam- logical weapons stockpile is 100
paign against Syria like the one times larger than Libya's.
in Libya that ousted Moammar "We also need to be alert to
Gadhafi last year. extremists, who may return
"For us to take military action to well-trod ratlines running
unilaterally, as some have sug- through Damascus, and other
gested, or to think that somehow hostile actors, including Iran,
there is some simple solution, I which has been exploiting the
think is a mistake," Obama said. situation and expanding its sup-
"What happened in Libya was port to the regime," Dempsey
we mobilized the international said. "And we need to be espe-
community, had a U.N. Security cially alert to the fate of Syria's
Council mandate, had the full chemical and biological weap-
cooperation of the region, Arab ons. They need to stay exactly
states, and we knew that we where they are."
could execute very effectively in McCain, along with Sens.
a relatively short period of time. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and
This is a much more complicat- Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., have
ed situation." called for U.S. military involve-
Obama's strategy has been to ment. But the issue has divid-
use sanctions and international ed Republicans, with House
diplomatic isolation to pressure Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio,
Assad into handing over power. insisting on Tuesday that the
The Pentagon chief said situation is too muddled and
the United States is currently U.S. military involvement would
focused on isolating the Assad be premature.
regime diplomatically and polit- Committee Chairman Carl
ically, arguing that it has lost all Levin, D-Mich., said there is no
legitimacy for killing its own consensus on how to get Assad
people. He left open the pos- to leave.
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