Shades of Grey

I'm sure this will be blogger-fodder today, as the SCOTUS handed down its affirmative action decision today. The actual decision, as of right now, hasn't been posted, so I can't speak to the details yet, but the court seemed to say affirmative action is okay, but a point system which gives your extra points is not.

I understand that affirmative action is a somewhat conflicting concept. It sets out to correct injustice by injustice, basically. (Well, un-fairness maybe a better term in injustice). Anyway, I understand and agree with both sides of the argument, but I tend to think the evils of affirmative action outweigh the evils without affirmative action.

So here's my early problem with this decision - if you can't give extra points for race, and certainly having a quota of admitting a certain percentage of a racial category won't fly, how do you count race into admissions?

Didn't the court just basically create affirmative action without the action? The only alternatives I see, which will eventually lead to other court cases, is:

1) Race becomes part of a larger 'other' category which gives you preference (like being a legacy).
2) Race becomes an issue whish is weighted behind closed doors, with no tangible rules.

Maybe someone smarter than me can shed some light. Or maybe I'll read the ruling when it comes out.