Suits & Sentences strikes again with an excellent post, this time it’s a hot discrimination case from New Haven. The Supreme Court is about to hear what might be the biggest discrimination case of its Term. Take a moment and read this piece that one of the blog readers commented on as “an affirmative action at its best.”

Seventy seven New Haven firefighters tested for promotion to lieutenant in late 2003. Forty three white firefighters, 19 African-Americans and 15 Hispanics took the written and oral exams. None of the African-American or Hispanic scored well enough to win promotion. There were eight vacancies for lieutenant, but the top 10 exam scores were all white. The top Hispanic candidate ranked 27th and the top African-American Candidate ranked 14th. So, New haven opted not to promote any of the candidates. The city said it feared an employment discrimination lawsuit.