Sotomayor’s hysterical harangue was devoid of any pretense of legal scholarship. However the major lesson from this case was a reminder just how political the SCOTUS is.They knew that recent court decisions that overturned legislative laws and popular referendums on abortion and gay marriage on the basis of interpretative “constitutional” analysis was beginning to have some serious negative effects. Americans were beginning to question what was the point of electing representatives to enact laws or vote on issues if in the final analysis a few people in black robes were to decide things in the final analysis. Looks a bit like Iran. The SCOTUS decision in the Michigan referendum case had more to do with timing than affirmative action. The SCOTUS thought that this was just an inopportune time to void another popularly enacted referendum. Affirmative action will be treated favorably by a future liberal court.
Re: affirmative action being treated favorably by a future liberal court -—
I would agree with you if Hillary or another Democrat is elected president in 2016. The next president is going to tip the balance of the federal courts, including the Supreme Court. If that president is a Democrat, and considering how radical types have taken over the Democrat party, then 8 years of Hillary on top of 8 years of Obama will drive the federal courts into solid liberal territory for generations.
No, the Statists on the court knew that the Obama administration was set to take executive action that establish the executive branch as the arbiter and head of all social justice. That is probably why their were so many differing opinions on why the ban should stand.