Our friends at the Opportunity Agenda have provided a framing piece with talking points on today’s Supreme Court decision in Ricci v. DeStefano. By a 5-4 majority the Supreme Court overruled the decision of  City of New Haven elected officials to set aside the results of a test required  to qualify for promotions in the City Fire Department.  City officials made a finding that the test was likely discriminatory since no African Americans and only one Latino received passing scores.

Writing for the Majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy, imposed a new and additional  burden upon the City and all employers to determine  exactly why the test resulted in a disparate impact.  The decision was otherwise narrowly written.

The court did not criticize the 2nd District Court of Appeal three judge  panel from which this case was appealed that included President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor.