As part of a contract to protect American diplomats and other employees worldwide, the State Department hired Blackwater for a multiyear assignment in Iraq, renewable each year.
Inside was an assortment of fireworks, a jar of Vaseline and a homework assignment sheet from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, among other items.
But Grutter's longevity has been in doubt since its author, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, was succeeded by Justice Samuel Alito, who joined the court's four other conservatives in a 2007 ruling that forbade public-school districts from promoting diversity through race-conscious pupil-assignment plans.