Mr. Purdy is a 1968 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a veteran of the Vietnam War. As a lawyer in private practice, he was a member of the pro bono trial and appellate team that litigated the University of Michigan race-preference admissions lawsuits on behalf of the plaintiffs Barbara Grutter and Jennifer Gratz.
In 1954 and 1955, the United States Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision in several consolidated cases, “declaring the fundamental principle that racial discrimination in public education is unconstitutional . . .” (Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 347 U.S. 483 (1954); and Brown v. Bd. of Educ., 349 U.S. 294, 298 (1955) (“Brown II”)). In […]
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In 2003, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas wrote: The Constitution abhors classifications based on race, not only because those classifications can harm favored races or are based on illegitimate motives, but also because every time the government places citizens on racial registers and makes race relevant to the provision of burdens or benefits, it demeans […]
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