Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito seemed to take a veiled swipe at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) over the Democrat lawmaker’s disputed claims of Native American ancestry.
Without naming Warren, Alito appeared to reference the senator during a heated debate on an affirmative action case on Monday.
Alito grilled North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park over affirmative action policies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
He specifically asked Park about what is stopping students from making false claims about their heritage to game the system.
Alito then brought up a hypothetical that sounded a lot like Liz Warren’s situation.
“It’s family lore that we have an ancestor who was an American Indian,” Alito said.
Park said it would not “be accurate” for a student to make those claims if they were not true.
Alito said: “Well, I identify as an American Indian because I’ve always been told that some ancestor back in the old days was an American Indian.”
Park said, “In that circumstance, it would be very unlikely that that person was telling the truth.”
According to The Washington Examiner:
“Warren previously identified herself as an American Indian on a Texas registration card for the State Bar of Texas and in documents related to her work at Harvard University, another school that was defending its race-based admissions policy during Monday’s oral arguments.”
Warren apologized in 2019:
“I know that I have made mistakes.
“I am sorry for the harm I have caused.
“I have listened and I have learned a lot, and I am grateful for the many conversations that we’ve had together.
“It is a great honor to partner with Indian country.”
Jonathan Turley said:
“Park also admitted to Alito that they rely on self-reporting.
“Alito raised a hypothetical that sounded like the Elizabeth Warren matter (without naming her) that an applicant may claim to be a Native American due to stories in her family.
“Park that that that would not be honest.
“Sotomayor came in to note that checking the box is not an automatic plus.
“She also noted that in the last 25 years that racial disparities have grown not been reduced in many areas. Park agreed.”
Park also admitted to Alito that they rely on self-reporting. Alito raised a hypothetical that sounded like the Elizabeth Warren matter (without naming her) that an applicant may claim to be a Native American do to stories in her family. Park that that that would not be honest…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) October 31, 2022
…Sotomayor came in to note that checking the box is not an automatic plus. She also noted that in the last 25 years that racial disparities have grown not been reduced in many areas. Park agreed.
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) October 31, 2022
