Capitol Hill Blue Forums Political Issues The Obama Administration Obama picks Sotomayor for high court

Judging from the Supreme Court Justices' questions during the oral arguments for Ricci v Destefano, my guess is the decision is likely to come down a 5-4 split with Justice Stevens being the swing vote. Breyer, Ginsburg and Souter seemed to be in favor of affirming, while Kennedy seemed to be a strong leaner in that direction. Alioto, Roberts and Scalia seemed to be in favor of overturning, while Thomas, as is often the case, did not proffer any questions, but I assume will side with overturning.

Ricci is the result of Title VII legislation, and SCOTUS caselaw that is so convoluted, it has become almost impossible for communities to avoid facing lawsuits under Title VII, no matter what they decide. If New Haven officials had certified the test, they would have faced a lawsuit, and by not certifying it, they faced a lawsuit.

Admittedly, this isn't PC, but one common talking point about this case is the named petitioner, Ricci, was a firefighter who suffers from dyslexia so severe, he needed to have all test materials read into audio tapes, and have special tutoring lasting 10 hours a day, paid for out of his own pocket, in order to successfully pass the test. I would think this would disqualify him from holding supervisory position in the Fire Department. Isn't an ability to comprehend written material a necessary qualification for the job? If the test is certified, will the city then be required under ADA to hire a employee, who will transcribe for him all written communications to supervisors into an audio medium? I'm not being unsympathetic to persons afflicted with dyslexia, only making an observation. I do not believe the New Haven Fire Department would allow a person afflicted with epilepsy, who had a history of needed varying medication prescriptions to control grand mal seizures, to drive one of their fire engines either.