An Analysis of Recent Decisions Affecting Public Servants

Government Mfrrmative Action Programs In Adm'and Constructors Inc. v. Pena,! an opinion with farreaching implications for government affinnative action programs, the Supreme Court held that all federal racial classification schemes must serve a compelling government interest and must be narrowly tailored to further that interest. In other words, to be upheld, they must survive strict judicial scmtiny.3 However, despite the definitive language of the majority opinion, an investigation of previous Supreme Court cases detailing affitmative action plans suggests that the long-tenn impact of Adarand may be difficult to predict.