Practice writing like a Supreme Court justice
These lines from Justice Sotomayor’s powerful dissent in the landmark affirmative action case, Students for Fair Admissions, are edited to muddy the meaning. See if you can simplify them and clarify the meaning—just like she did.
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Try rewriting each unclear sentence more clearly. Then compare your version to Justice Sotomayor’s model sentence.
1. Unclear version:
The part of the Constitution that relates to equal treatment for different groups is generally understood to contain a kind of principle connected to fairness involving racial matters.
Hint: She’s writing about the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
2. Unclear version:
At some point in the past, the Court determined that this idea could be carried out using certain approaches that take race into account, especially considering the broader historical and current context in which perfect neutrality hasn’t exactly been the norm.
Hint: She references “race-conscious” measures and the fact that our society is “not colorblind.”
3. Unclear version:
Using race to a certain extent has been viewed by some as a factor that may have contributed to more balanced access to educational experiences for various categories of individuals and has been said to have played a role in shaping the makeup of student populations in higher education settings.
Hint: She’s talking about how to improve “racial diversity.”
You can be a great legal writer!