Clarence Thomas Wins Long Game Against Affirmative Action (1)

Sharply limiting affirmative action in higher education is a capstone on Justice Clarence Thomas’ 32 years on the US Supreme Court, where he has gone from outlier to ideological leader of the conservative majority.

His concurrence, in which Thomas compared affirmative action to “government-imposed racism,” comes after he has similarly seen his dissents on the most contentious legal issues—including gun rights and abortion—take root and became the law of the land.

While the Supreme Court is often referred to by the chief justice in charge at the time, the current one is “looking more and more like Clarence Thomas’ court,” ...