Court Allows Reverse Bias in Job Exams

The Supreme Court, acting in a “reverse discrimination” case from New York, today let stand a ruling that allows states to take affirmative action steps even without a legal finding of prior racial bias.

The court’s action was met by dissents from three justices, who said, “States should not be allowed to practice racial discrimination anew under the guise of atoning for past discrimination or because of the difficulties with mounting an otherwise legitimate defense to a lawsuit.”

The justices let stand a ruling in favor of New York officials scoring corrections officer exams to assure that more minorities received passing grades. White officers had complained that they were victims of “reverse discrimination” by efforts to adjust the scores on promotional tests.

Also today, the court agreed to decide if the Internal Revenue Service may collect unpaid federal income taxes out of a joint bank account when only one of the depositors owes the government money.

A ruling on the dispute could affect several hundred thousand taxpayers each year, according to the IRS, which told the court that it attempts to collect delinquent taxes out of many joint accounts every tax year.

Accepted IRS Appeal

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the IRS in a lawsuit involving a Pine Bluff, Ark., man who allegedly was delinquent in paying $856.61 in back taxes. The high court accepted an appeal from the IRS.

Until the lower court ruled, the IRS had the power to unilaterally demand payment from a bank of any funds owed by a depositor, whether or not the funds were mixed in a joint account.

The agency also could sue in court and ask a judge to determine what portion of the joint account in dispute belonged to the delinquent taxpayer.

In other cases, the court:

--Ruled that a California tax on out-of-state processors who ship beef into the state was unlawfully discriminatory. The court unanimously upheld a ruling by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last September that the tax improperly interfered with interstate commerce because California did not impose a similar tax on in-state processors.

--Let stand a ruling that forces Hustler magazine, a sexually explicit publication, to pay $150,000 to an Austin, Tex., woman for publishing, without her knowledge or permission, a nude photograph of her.