The author reviews Supreme Court decisions on affirm ative action to identify the boundaries of permissible voluntary race- or gender-conscious affirmative action by government employers. He concludes that standards of judicial review established prior to 1989 for affirmative action in the public sector have not been eroded by three controversial decisions taken by the Court that year in City
of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Company, Wards Cove Packing Com
pany, Inc. v. Atonio, and Martin v. Wilks. However, the outcomes of these cases could nevertheless have a chilling effect on the willingness of some public employers to engage in permissible affirmative action.
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