Justices Debate Affirmative Action Ban

Hearing challenge to Michigan law passed by voters

The Supreme Court ventured into the fractious debate over affirmative action Tuesday, hearing a challenge to a statewide ban Michigan voters imposed in 2006 on consideration of race or gender in public education, employment or contracting.

The fate of the measure appeared to be in the hands of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who suggested at the outset of the argument that the Michigan constitutional amendment was clearly invalid under a three-decade-old Supreme Court precedent.

"I have trouble seeing the distinction" between Michigan's ban and a Washington state ban on racial busing that the court struck down in 1982, Kennedy said.