ABCDE Mostly sunny 79/55 • Tomorrow Mostly sunny 79/63 • details, B6 THECHANGEDCOURT


New look at school integration


Roberts court’s 2007 decision on desegregation now forcing jurisdictions to change plans


BY ROBERT BARNES


louisville — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. made it sound so simple that day in 2007, when he and four other members of the Supreme Court declared that this city’s efforts to desegregate its schools violated the Constitution. “Theway to stop discriminationonthe


basis of race,” Roberts wrote, “is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” But life has been anything but simple


for school officials here. They have stead- fastly—or stubbornly, depending on the point of view — tried to maintain inte- grated classrooms despite the court's command that officials not consider race when assigning children to schools. Consultants were hired, lawyers re-


tained, census data scrubbed, boundar- ies redrawn, more buses bought, more routes proposed, new school choices of- fered and more lawsuits defended. The final product, which integrates


schools based on socioeconomic factors rather than on race alone, has proven to be more complex and costly than the previous system. Long bus rides and complaints from a vocal minority of parentshave threatened popular support of the plan. The school board has delayed full implementation. The legislature is contemplating whether to guarantee parents a spot in their neighborhood schools. It has been a long three years for


school officials since the court for the first time took away the simplest and most efficient way to integrate class- rooms: making decisions based upon a student’s race. It was a landmark mo- ment for a court that has long struggled with race-conscious decisions by govern- ment: when they are warranted, and whentheyhave outlived their usefulness. The ruling also marked a key moment


in the emerging identity of the court headed by Roberts, who will mark his fifth anniversary as chief justice this month. It showed clearly a new majority of justices willing to move aggressively on social issues that had long divided their predecessors. A string of 5 to 4 decisions on contro-


versial social issues since then hasmostly cheered conservatives who think the court is hewingmoreclosely to the words of the Constitution. That optimism among conservatives


stems from President George W. Bush’s ability to transform the tenor of the court with a new chief justice — Roberts, now


court continued onA7 TEXANS 30, REDSKINS 27 (OT) MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010


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MD DC VA SU V1 V2 V3 V4 washingtonpost.com • 75¢


Colleges mandate sickle cell testing SOME FEAR


DISCRIMINATION


New Division I athletic policy’s aim: to avert on-field deaths


BY ROB STEIN U.S. colleges and universities for the JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST A painful loss for Redskins


Trent Williams is encouraged by CoachMike Shanahan at the end ofWashington’s overtime loss toHouston.Aknee injury forced Williams, the team’s prized rookie tackle, to leave the game in the fourth quarter, when the Redskins were in the midst of squandering a 17-point lead. 6Full coverage can be found in the Sports section and on washingtonpost.com/sports


That nest egg is feeling fragile


Families in prime saving years worry money won’t be there for college funds, retirement BY YLAN Q.MUI


F


or decades, Americans have largely counted on the stock markets and real estate to finance life’s biggest


expenses, from their children’s college to retirement. But discouraging returns over the past


decade and a sputtering economy that shows few signs of reviving soon are raising acute doubts about those tradi- tional investments, leaving many fami- lies confused and frustrated over how to secure their financial future. For those in their “nesting years,”


which financial experts say last from roughly the 20s through the 40s, the loss of this time to build wealth could end up haunting even the most prudent savers well into their old age. This is one reason the economic down-


turn has been so wrenching, even for those who pay their bills and have jobs. Arlington County resident Ann Unitas, for one, thought she was on track for a comfortable retirement in about 15 years. But as the recession took hold, she watched her retirement account drop by about half. Unitas, a mother of two, has begun hunting for other places to put her


NIKKI KAHN/THE WASHINGTON POST


money — she bought an apartment to rent out and is looking into municipal bonds — but remains uncertain that those strategies will work. “I was terrified when I saw the 401(k)


damage,” Unitas said. “I can’t wrap my head around how it’ll grow back.”


Her Lexus, lost in the nexus of D.C. security


After Secret Service has vehicles moved, woman is sent on frustrating search


BY SHANKAR VEDANTAM Martena Clinton drove to the Con-


gressional Black Caucus dinner at the Washington Convention Center on Sat- urday with high expectations. A friend had arranged a ticket, and Clinton wore a special diamond pendant over her black dress. She parked in a handi- capped spot close to the intersection of 9th Street andMount Vernon Place and glanced in the mirror. She decided the diamond pendant didn’t go with her dress, took it off and put it in a console. She displayed a handicapped tag prominently, locked her car and checked


with a police officerwho happened to be parked right behind her. He assured her the spotwas legal. Clinton put her credit cards, cash andmakeup in a pocketbook and left it in the trunk, carrying a small purse into the dinner. It was 5:30 p.m. When she emerged fromthe dinner at


11:30 p.m., her black 1994 Lexus was gone. The police officer who responded to


KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST


An exasperatedMartena Clinton, a Maryland resident, was still wearing the dress she wore to the Congressional Black Caucus dinner the night before as she searched for her missing car Sunday in the District.


Clinton’s distressed call told her that the Secret Service had done what many Washingtonians have grown begrudg- ingly used to: They ordered numerous cars removed fromthe area as a security precaution because President Obama was speaking at the dinner. It should have been simple forClinton


to find her car — police told her that relocated vehicles are typically towed to different spotswithin a fewblocks—but


car continued onA16 INSIDE


POLITICS&THENATION Pelosi losing some support


The House Speaker may have a rough road as she tries to hold on to her leadership post. A3


Freed hiker returns to U.S.


Sarah Shourd, right, who returned to the United States on Sunday, says she is “one-third free” and appealed to Iran to release her two companions. A2


BUSINESS NEWS..............A10 CLASSIFIEDS......................E1 COMICS.............................C8


EDITORIALS/LETTERS.....A14 FED PAGE.........................A13 GOING OUT GUIDE.............C3


LOTTERIES.........................B3 MOVIES..............................C6 OBITUARIES.......................B4


METRO1 An ‘OliverTwist’


overcomes the odds A surrogate family of teachers, social workers and counselors help a local teen thrive after homelessness, hunger and a torturous journey from Guatemala. B1


OPINIONS


E.J. Dionne Jr.: Obama’s tax cuts are the ones we should extend. A15


KIDSPOST........................C10 TELEVISION.......................C5 WORLD NEWS....................A8


Printed using recycled fiber DAILY CODE 8 6 7 4 STYLE


‘Lone Star’ won’t con its viewers


TV critic Hank Stuever hopes Fox’s new drama “Lone Star,” about a troubled swindler, hangs around this season. C1


A seven-hour play 


“The Great Game” looks to chronicle Afghanistan in three parts. C1


The Washington Post Year 133, No. 289


CONTENT © 2010 Some financial planners continue to


preach that long-term investing requires riding out the losses as well as the gains. Others are now telling clients to moder- ate their expectations—work longer, cut


nest egg continued onA12


Justin and Rebecca McNaull of Vienna, with their children, Caleb, 8, and Eliza, 5. In the wake of the financial crisis, the savings the McNaulls set up for their children are pretty much at the same level they were nine years ago.


first time are requiring top student ath- letes to submit to testing for the gene for sickle cell anemia, a mandate aimed at preventing sudden deaths of promising young players but stirring deep fears about reviving dangerous old prejudices. The screening hopes to identify ath-


letes athighrisk for life-threatening com- plications fromintense physical exertion. That way, those with the gene could be monitored more closely and their train- ing could be modified by, for example, allowingmore time for rest and drinking morewater. But the prerequisite is evoking some of


the most notorious episodes in the na- tion’s history.While less known than the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment, for decades blacks were stigmatized by sickle cellbecause they carriedit farmore commonly thanwhites,marking themas supposedly genetically inferior, barring them from jobs, the military, insurance and even discouraging themfrommarry- ing and having children. “This amounts to a massive genetic


screening program, with tens of thou- sands being screened,” saidTroyDuster, a professor of sociology at New York Uni- versity who studies the racial implica- tions of science. “This could have an extraordinarily heavy impact on black athletes. You are going to be picking out these kids andsaying, ‘Youare going tobe scrutinized more closely than anyone else.’That’sworrisome.” The testing is beingwatched closely as


a case study inboth the potential benefits and risks of large-scale modern genetic screening, which is proliferating as the genetic bases formore andmore diseases are being deciphered. “This could be a tip of an iceberg of


genetic screening aswe go forward,” said sickle cell continued onA5


6 washingtonpost.com/yourtake


Give your opinion: Are the screenings a good idea? How do you think the


concerns over safety, science and discrimination should be balanced?


U.N. is at a critical juncture as it struggles to assert its relevance


a string of disappointments BY COLUM LYNCH


united nations — President Obama will travel this week to New York for the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders to reaffirm America’s commitment to a “new era of multilateralism.” He will arrive, however, at a time when the United Nations, the world’s principal multilateral institution, is struggling to remain relevant on the world stage. From nuclear diplomacy with North


Korea to economic negotiations among the Group of 20 nations and peace talks


With members convening, world body copes with


in the Middle East, U.N. diplomats have frequently been reduced to bit players over the past year. Even on climate change, an issue on


which the United Nations has tried to stake its claim, theworld body has failed to show much progress. Highly antici- pated negotiations in Copenhagen ran aground in December. For an institution with its share of


proud chapters, these are tough times. “Alot of the juice is outside theUnited


Nations,” said Bruce Jones, the director of the Center on International Coopera- tion at New York University. “The old days when the U.S. and the Europeans could stitch things up at the United Nations are over, and we haven’t yet seen the emergence of a new platform


united nations continued onA13


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