February 24, 2005
Forthcoming Thoughts on Johnson ::
legal — tagged civil rights, conlaw, legal and SCOTUS
9:00 am
So, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Johnson v. California yesterday. Last semester, I wrote a 30-page appellate brief for my legal writing class based on this case, so I’ve been waiting for this decision with particular interest.
In a nutshell, this case is about a prisoner housing policy used by the California Department of Corrections, that assigns prisoners to cells based only on their race. Although the CDC contends that the policy lasts for only the first 60 days that a prisoner is incarcerated, there is strong evidence that in practice, segregation of prisoners extends well beyond those first 60 days. There is also a strong suggestion that the policy does little to further the stated administrative interest of preventing racially motivated violence.
The short of it is that I’m happy with the Supreme Court’s holding that the prison policy must be struck down. I have a fundamental aversion to racial segregation, no matter its form or its context, and I think the Constitution cannot tolerate it. At this point, however, I’m uncertain whether I agree with the Court’s reasoning; I’ll know more about this, of course, once I read the opinion.
I plan to write more about this case after I read the opinion. In the meantime, I recommend checking out the opinion yourself, and reading what Professor Jack Balkin has to say about the decision.
