Supreme Court to rule on affirmative action, sodomy

The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will decide whether affirmative action programs in public universities represent "reverse discrimination." Justices will be asked to decide whether a state has a "compelling interest" to promote a diverse student body, or whether the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment forbids giving one ethnic group or culture special advantages over another, according to CNN. The Court will review two cases involving the University of Michigan-one for Undergraduate Admissions the other for Law School admissions-where the school evaluated students on a 150-point scale with certain minorities garnering a 20-point bonus based on race (the equivalent of a one point increase on a four point GPA scale). In a separate matter, the court also decided to revisit the constitutionality of anti-sodomy laws, which are currently enforced in 13 states, according to CNN.com. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund in New York, a gay-rights group, is urging the court to revisit their 1986 decision upholding anti-sodomy laws and to rule that prosecuting same-sex couples, but not heterosexuals, for sodomy violates the equal treatment standard.