Perry, Affirmative Action as you explain it and as it is practiced are vastly different. If that sergeant took the LSAT today and applied to USD Law in San Diego, they would indeed consider his service. However, if he is below, say, a 157 LSAT score, it won’t matter at all. However, if he is Hispanic, black (not Iranian or Indian or Asian by the way), he will be admitted with a score 5-10 points lower at most law schools in the country, simply for being black or Hispanic. DePaul in Chicago admitted approximately 25+ applicants last year who were URMs and all had under 150 LSATS (gathered from lawschoolnumbers.com). I have yet to find a non URM admitted with that low of a score, and many non URMs were denied with 155-160 LSATs.
Never mind the fact that some of these Hispanic and black students come from middle income to rich families. I know one girl whose parents are doctors from Peru, she is blonde hair, blue eyed, and she was admitted to a top MBA school early admission and they salivated about her ethnicity. What happens if you are adopted and don’t know your background? Can you claim to be Hispanic just to get in to a better school? How exactly do we prove who is and isn’t a URM? If you are a Jewish, white San Diegan with parents who came from Russia and Spain, you are technically Hispanic since one of your parents came from Spain!
