Jeffrey Toobin writes:

The argument against affirmative action in college admissions (and in favor of the plaintiffs in the Harvard case) rests on a claim of objectivity — that grades and test scores, which can be reduced to numbers, are the only legitimate grounds on which to differentiate students from one another.

No serious person argues that it is illegitimate for colleges to take into account artistic talent, athletic ability, and many other factors besides grades and test scores, many of which cannot be reduced to numbers. What the people on the other side of this issue from Toobin actually argue is that discrimination on the basis of race is unjust, unwise, and illegal.

There is, naturally, no discussion of any constitutional or statutory provision in Toobin’s article, although there is a great deal of imputation of motives.