Appellate argument in Michigan Civil Rights Initiative case

A three-judge panel of the Sixth Circuit today heard oral argument in BAMN v. Granholm, the case that threatens the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

Thanks to CIR, that initiative of Ward Connerly and Jennifer Gratz to ban race preferences by the government of Michigan got on the ballot in 2006, and thanks to the voters of Michigan it passed that November and became part of the Michigan Constitution. So — that means no more “reverse” race discrimination by the state of Michigan (including its state universities, such as the big one in Ann Arbor), right?

Not if the ACLU, a group called BAMN (short for the Malcolm X phrase “By Any Means Necessary”), liberal Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe, and the blue-chip New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore have their way. They (among many others) are the opponents of lone law school applicant Eric Russell, represented by CIR, and they’re doing everything they can to get the new state constitutional amendment declared in violation of the United States Constitution.  Yes, that’s right: they want a provision banning race discrimination struck down as unconstitutional.