Supreme Court rules for firefighters

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

Regardless of how this decision does or does not affect the nomination of Sotomayor, it is still a small joy to see the Supreme Court finally confirm what anyone with a brain and a willingness to admit the truth has always known : Discrimination is discrimination, no matter what color, gender, creed etc it is aimed at.