A portent of the kingdom to come?

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether skin color can be considered in assigning children to public schools, reopening the issue of affirmative action. The announcement puts a contentious social topic on the national landscape in an election year, and tests the conservatism of President Bush's two new justices.

Source. James Taranto thinks this might mark the beginning of the undoing of Grutter more than dealing with busing, as the two school integration programs under scrutiny use "numerical targets for minority enrollment."

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who wrote the majority opinion in Grutter, has now ridden off into the sunset. One suspects the man who took her place, Justice Samuel Alito, will be a little stricter in his scrutiny--which may help move up that 2028 deadline.

Psycmeistr also thinks this is big.