SCOTUS Needs To Extend Reverse Discrimination Ban To Schools

The U.S. Supreme Court should extend its prohibition on reverse discrimination to American schools, not only workplaces, Federalist CEO Sean Davis said on Thursday.

The moment came during an interview Davis participated in on Fox News’ The Will Cain Show when the host of the same name asked The Federalist CEO to comment on a SCOTUS decision released on Thursday in a case known as Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services. As The Federalist reported, the nation’s highest court unanimously held “that ‘majority groups’ don’t have to provide more evidence than other groups to show discrimination.”

In referring to the decision as a “great result” for the country, Davis emphasized that the high court affirmed the notion that “you don’t get to have a different standard for proving discrimination based on whether the person is white or black or straight or gay.” He then went on to note potential implications the decision could have for a case that could be considered by SCOTUS in the near future that would extend this standard to U.S. schools.

Known as B.W. v. Austin Independent School District, the case centers on a student (Brooks Warden) who attended school in the Austin Independent School District in Texas.

According to the Manhattan Institute, Warden — a white Christian male — was reportedly bullied and harassed for expressing his support for President Trump by wearing a MAGA hat. The conservative think tank noted that “Brooks’s parents repeatedly reported the bullying and harassment to the AISD, but the District did nothing to prevent it from continuing.”

This prompted Warden’s parents to file a lawsuit against the school district on his behalf, alleging, in part, racial discrimination under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The suit was dismissed by the district court and later a panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The full 5th Circuit later reviewed the case en banc, at which point the full court “split evenly,” according to the Manhattan Institute.

The appellate court’s indecision prompted plaintiffs to file a petition with the Supreme Court in February, asking the justices to take up the case. The high court has yet to decide whether it will hear the matter.

Speaking to Cain, Davis noted that the B.W. case has “the exact same set of facts, not in an employment context, but in an education context.” He added that SCOTUS’s unanimous decision in the Ames case is “a really good sign” that the justices will say, “‘Look, we’re not going to leave this just in the employment context, where we say discrimination is wrong.’”

“They have an opportunity to expand it to education, to every other major institution that says discrimination is discrimination,” Davis said. “You can’t say that it’s OK to discriminate against someone because they’re white, but not OK because they’re black. We all know it’s wrong. It’s common sense that it’s wrong, and it’s nice to finally see the Supreme Court acknowledge in law that basic common sense.”

Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood