Sotomayor and Thomas Benefited from Affirmative Action, But Split Starkly on Issue

He resents affirmative action. She embraces affirmative action.

By Jorge Rivas Jan 16, 2013

As we await a ruling on affirmative action in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas, CBS’ "60 Minutes" looks at the two Supreme Court Justices of color whose lives were influenced by affirmative action. ["60 Minutes" has interviewed both Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas on the subject of affirmative action and finds they couldn’t disagree more. ](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504803_162-57563699-10391709/how-affirmative-action-divides-two-justices/) > Why compare two Supreme Court justices in this week’s Overtime video? Because Sonia Sotomayor and Clarence Thomas are the two justices who "benefited" from affirmative action — they both went to Yale Law School in the 1970s when an aggressive affirmative action policy was in place — and they have both spoken candidly on 60 Minutes (her, this week; him, in 2007) about the role that affirmative action played in their lives. The trouble is: they couldn’t disagree more. > >"He resents affirmative action. She embraces affirmative action," says 60 Minutes producer Henry Schuster. "These two people who should have so much in common suddenly become the yin and yang of this experience." The Supreme Court’s decision in the affirmative action case Fisher v. UT is expected this Spring.