People for the American Way
People for the American Way Says the Supreme Court Discriminates - In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing Miguel Estrada (link via Howard Bashman), People for the American Way mentions an interview in which Estrada, a former clerk to Justice Kennedy, is said to have minimized the significance of the relatively small number of minority law clerks at the Supreme Court. According to PFAW:
Mr. Estrada reportedly dismissed the numbers, stating that “if there was some reason for underrepresentation, it would be something to look into,” but concluded that he did not “have any reason to think it’s anything other than a reflection of trends in society.” USA Today (March 13, 1998). Mr. Estrada’s statements suggest a troubling disregard or lack of awareness about the role of present and past discrimination in limiting the ability of minorities to obtain such important positions, including the role of the vestiges of past discrimination in creating and perpetuating “trends in society.”
Since PFAW believes that one of the reasons there aren't more minority Supreme Court clerks is "present" discrimination, it apparently believes the Supreme Court justices discriminate in hiring.
Then, in one of the funniest examples I can recall of the pot calling the kettle black (perhaps that should be modified here to various official Hispanic pots calling Estrada not brown enough), PFAW has the gall to bring up the comments of a candidate for a clerkship with Justice Kennedy who complained that Estrada "asked me a lot of unfair, ideological questions," adding that "I felt like was being subjected to an ideological litmus test."
Apparently unaware of the contradiction, PFAW concluded the paragraph immediately preceding the one complaining about ideological litmus tests by demanding:
Mr. Estrada should be questioned closely about his views concerning the continuing effects of discrimination and concerning Supreme Court decisions that have approved affirmative action to help solve those problems.
Oh, I get it. Litmus tests are what the other side uses. All we demand is adherence to "the American Way."