This study provides a guide to a crucial case in the affirmative action/""reverse discrimination"" debate in America. The text also covers the Supreme Court's 1987 reaffirmation that it was legitimate for employers to consider gender in hiring.
"Urofsky presents an insiders view of a landmark case heretofore unknown to most students of affirmative action case law. . . extremely well balanced. Rich information stems from interviewing litigants and attorneys involved in
Johnson, relevant case transcripts, and Justice Brennans office files."
Choice"A fascinating account of how the Supreme Court of the United States, for the first time, upheld the use of affirmative action to counter sex discrimination in hiring and promotion."Journal of American History
"Spanning seven years, Johnson v. Santa Clara addressed a variety of complicated and interrelated legal issues that surround the role and legality of affirmative action. Through a strong narrative style, Urofsky not only provides the reader with a history of the litigation, but also makes the reader award that all legal decisions are built upon the lives of ordinary people."Journal of the West
"Melvin Urofsky has crafted not only a probing analysis of the law involving affirmative action, but he has also told a poignant story about the lives of ordinary people in the legal process. The result is a book that is an ideal primer on affirmative action, both as a contested political and legal issue and, as significantly, an emotional roller coaster for those caught up in it."Kermit Hall, author of The Magic Mirror: Law in American History
"Teachers will welcome this book as an unparalleled blend of exacting legal scholarship with engaging narrative history. Urofsky skillfully weaves dialogue, novelistic narrative, and extensive interview quotes with discerning policy and legal analysis. In the grand tradition of Anthony Lewis, he shows how great movements in law and society impact ordinary people, and how their universal striving for fair play and equal treatment moves legal discourse. Students and teachers alike will cherish this book."William M. Wiecek, author of Liberty under Law: The Supreme Court in American Life
"Urofsky's volume is a boon to those attempting to understand the current debate about affirmative action. Taking one case as his text, he presents the arguments on both sides, explores the societal setting that produced the controversy, and explains both the legal decisions that have been an important element in the debate and the steps the case followed in its journey to the Supreme Court. He never forgets that the story he is telling involves real people, who spring to life in these pages and provide a human face to the debate and to the judicial process. He remembers that he is also writing for real people, and he does so beautifully. There could not be a better way of learning about the interaction between societal problems and the law in the United States."Phillipa Strum, author of Louis Brandeis: Justice for the People
