The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling two weeks ago throwing out Michigan’s ban on racial preferences in college admissions definitely deserves a place of honor in any top-10 list of judicial sophistries. But even if the Supreme Court reverses the ruling, universities will still find artful ways to promote their sham diversity. Instead of seeking more court intervention, defenders of colorblind campuses might serve their cause better by simply demanding more university transparency.

The Sixth Circuit has been trying to thwart Michigan’s quest for race neutrality in government hiring and admissions ever since two lawsuits challenging the University of Michigan’s admission practices made a stop in its chambers en route to the Supreme Court about a decade ago. The Supreme Court eventually outlawed the blatant racial double standard that the school’s undergraduate program employed but allowed its law school’s more individualized consideration of race. However, Michigan voters in 2006 amended the state constitution by a 58 to 42 percent margin barring all discrimination — big or small — by race, sex and national origin.