Bacon's Rebellion

Democracy Thrives in Sunlight

The Rest of the Story: Other TJ Amicus Briefs

—

by

Dick Hall-Sizemore
in , ,

by Dick Hall-Sizemore

Asra Q. Nomani recently posted an article listing several organizations that had filed amicus curiae briefs in the case before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in which the Fairfax County School Board is appealing a district court’s ruling that the new admissions process for the Thomas Jefferson School for Science and Technology is unconstitutional.

Lest readers of Bacon’s Rebellion get the impression that the School Board is out there all alone in its appeal, I thought a little balance was needed in this discussion. A look at the case file reveals a long list of amici filed on behalf of the school board. In addition to briefs from the United States, fifteen state governments, and several civil rights organizations, e.g. NAACP Legal Defense Fund and ACLU, there are three that are especially worth highlighting:

Asian American Youth Leadership Empowerment and Development for Youth and Families — “supports low-income and underserved Asian-Pacific American youth with educational empowerment.”

TJ Alumni for Racial Justice — “TJ Alumni for Racial Justice is a newly formed organization of concerned TJHSST alumni. Its board is composed of a multi-generational and diverse slate of TJHSST graduates with a broad range of talents. TJARJ is committed to fighting for racial justice at TJHSST until the job is done.”

Hamkae Center — “organizes Asian Americans to achieve social, economic, and racial justice in Virginia.”

Share this article

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

ADVERTISEMENT

(comments below)

Comments

17 responses to “The Rest of the Story: Other TJ Amicus Briefs”

  1. Stephen Haner Avatar
    Stephen Haner

    Kinda feel for the students as this war among the adults rages around them….

    1. Nancy Naive Avatar
      Nancy Naive

      Truth is the first casualty. Kids are the second.

  2. Nancy Naive Avatar
    Nancy Naive

    Problem with a good story, the other side.

  3. walter smith Avatar
    walter smith

    Is there a point? That racists have resources and people fighting racism and wanting the law applied equally and blindly to all have an uphill battle in fighting the soft bigotry of low expectations from white liberals with a guilt and white savior complex?
    If so, I agree.

  4. walter smith Avatar
    walter smith

    Yeah…totally grassroots
    Ignore that the website has Arnold and Porter legal backing.
    Do you think they are paying their own money, or could it possibly be “pro bono” from the mega law firm?
    How come it is a Delaware corp? And the IRS EIN info was returned to lawyers at Arnold & Porter?
    Check out the filing history at the SCC and you can find 47 pages of Delaware entity info and policies. A mom and pop didn’t draw those up – a huge law firm did . I’d attach if permitted, but I don’t think possible. Here is a screenshot of the entity info from the SCC –
    09/25/2020 09/28/2020 2009282413381 2009282413381 Application for Registration of Corporate Name Approved N/A Online 47
    Page 1 of 1, records 1 to 3 of 3
    Filing Date Snapshot as of: 9/25/2020
    Business Details
    Name Changes
    Principal Office
    Principals
    Business Name:TJ Alumni Action Group, Inc. Entity ID:11114514
    Entity Type:Registered Name Entity Status:Active
    Formation Date:09/28/2020 Reason for Status:Active and In Good Standing
    VA Qualification Date:09/28/2020 Status Date:9/28/2020
    Industry Code:0 – GeneralPeriod of Duration:09/28/2021
    Jurisdiction:DEAnnual Report Due Date:N/A
    Registration Fee Due Date:N/ACharter Fee:N/A

    The Asian American group is actually part of Venture Philanthropy Partners, which appears to be a coalition of virtue signaling DC area businesses disguising their efforts as “investments.” They even refer to the ventures as “investments” on the website, but I suspect VPP writes it off as charity and to curry favor with the governmental muckety-mucks they may have to deal with… gotta pay the Danegeld to the Dane, doncha know…

    1. James McCarthy Avatar
      James McCarthy

      Oh my gosh!! And the dark money and law firms behind Pacific Legal Foundation and other Rightie groups are virtuous without signals. Beware the cracks in your glass houses. Boring.

      1. walter smith Avatar
        walter smith

        I always know I am correct by my critics. As usual, the Leftist critics are rooting for the wrong team. They profess to love the little guy, but always root for the authoritarians… It’s almost like the Lefties are the fascists as they call everybody else a Nazi or fascist…
        The parents of TJ are the Davids. Of course the issue has attracted amicus briefs from across the spectrum. It’s at the Supreme Court. It’s important. We seem to be back on the road to federalism and that might make the cases less contentious. Can’t wait until the Commerce clause is back in a box and Chevron deference is killed, along with all of the Griswold branch, and we’ll be a Republic again.
        Anyway, two of the 3 amicus groups DHS cited were not exactly grass roots. They were astroturf Potemkin villages, backed by grifting Lefties to support racist discrimination because now Lefties love to judge by race (you know, white guilt, white savior, soft bigotry of low expectations, but makes me feel I am so good…and even better with other people’s money). Is the TJ Alumni group paying the Arnold & Porter bills or is it pro bono? Wanna bet?

  5. James McCarthy Avatar
    James McCarthy

    Vital to the opinion eaters on this blog—which side has the most amici? Nomani’s iteration appeared to include all but the Mariana Islands.

    1. Stephen Haner Avatar
      Stephen Haner

      They count to determine the winner, right?

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Not anymore. They sank.

      2. James McCarthy Avatar
        James McCarthy

        Only for the consumption of paper.

  6. CJBova Avatar
    CJBova

    You’ve listed three groups but nothing about their positions on the matter. The Asian American Youth Leadership Empowerment and Development for Youth and Families link goes to a fundraising organization. Their website has no mention of why they support the school board. Hamkae Center is the Virginia affiliate of Nakasec https://nakasec.org/values, but again no explanation of what was in their filing. The newly formed TJ Alumni group say they went to TJ in the 90s and wouldn’t have been admitted today. The common thread among them is equity, a demographic balance without consideration of ability to make the most of a TJ education. Sounds like they’re advocating to replace qualified Asian students with less qualified Black, Hispanic and other Asian students.

    1. WayneS Avatar
      WayneS

      The newly formed TJ Alumni group say they went to TJ in the 90s and wouldn’t have been admitted today.

      What does that mean? Are they saying they are no longer as smart as they once were?

      😉

      1. Nancy Naive Avatar
        Nancy Naive

        Um, they went to college and turned 21. Of course they’re not as smart! Fridays kill brain cells.

        If you need proof, ask how many of them admit their parents were right.

    2. James McCarthy Avatar
      James McCarthy

      And the amici first prize for credibility, veracity, demography – not including legal merit – is…………ta da!!!

    3. Dick Hall-Sizemore Avatar
      Dick Hall-Sizemore

      The links for the TJ Alumni group spell out pretty clearly their positions and why they support the school board. I interpret the statement by the former students that they would not be admitted today as meaning they would not have scored high enough on the standardized test. (The piece was written before the new process went into effect.) According to them, the TJ of the 1990s was “more generous” and took factors, other than the admissions test, into account. Their successes at TJ are illustrative of how such a program can succeed.

      There are factors other than a high score on a standardized test that can indicate whether a student has what it takes to make the most of a TJ education.

  7. smagar Avatar
    smagar

    IMO, Ms. Nomani’s side of the argument is more compelling. I side with her.

Leave a Reply

Read More