Justice in the Slough of Equality

The problem of how best to resolve "reverse discrimination" questions under the equal protection clause is currently receiving much attention. The author closely examines the widely accepted belief that equality is the same thing as justice. He demonstrates that there is no a priori or empirical justification for this identification and rejects it as an analytical touchstone whose usefulness is over. Something more flexible must be created to help define the relationship between "equal treatment' and "justice." In his analysis of equal protection clause case law, he demonstrates that equality, as a criterion of justice, is too inflexible to be of help in resolving modem problems of affirmative action and reverse discrimination.