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The Supreme Court’s rare moment of unanimity against a DEI rule, explained

7 10
05.06.2025
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, who authored the Court’s opinion in Ames. | Paul Morigi/Getty Images for The Atlantic

On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed down a raft of mostly unanimous opinions, three of which reached a conservative outcome despite the fact that they were each written by Democratic justices. Sometimes, the law in a case is clear.

Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, authored by Biden-appointed Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, was the first of these three cases. It involved a clearly illegal “background circumstances” rule. This rule imposes a slightly higher burden on members of majority groups — such as white people, straight people, or Christians — who allege workplace discrimination compared to members of minority groups........

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