This AP article suggests that Justice Sotomayor publicly said that alternatives to affirmative action have been shown not to work. I've been critical of Justice Scalia for his occasionally loose language in interviews and if the AP article is accurate -- admittedly a huge assumption -- then I would have advised Justice Sotomayor to be more circumspect about matters that are subject to proof in cases that will wend their way to the Supreme Court. Excerpt:
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor rejected on Sunday the notion that alternatives to affirmative action such as income or residency could achieve similar results in diversifying the nation's colleges and universities.
When asked whether other "less fractious" measures could achieve similar results for schools, she said that statistics show the alternatives simply don't work.