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07/04/2007: "US rejects race-based admissions"

The US Supreme Court has narrowly ruled that the race of a child cannot be used to determine where he or she will be sent to school.
The decision, one of the most important civil rights rulings in years, may affect millions of children in the US.

The court's conservative majority struck down the voluntary programmes adopted by many schools.

The judges rejected affirmative action plans which aim to ensure racially mixed classrooms.

Such programmes were introduced during the civil rights era as a means of de-segregating the US's racially divided school system.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6250414.stm