Ricci and judicial politics

publius has an interest post on the politics of Ricci. My (quite amateurish) takeaway from the commentaries I've been reading is threefold:

a) The circuit ruling that Sonia Sotomayor decided applied the correct precedent, notwithstanding how unfair the reverse discrimination seemed to many of us.

b) The Supreme Court overturned this with a new rule, which is their prerogative. This does not reflect on the appropriateness of the circuit decision, which was correct given the precedents. But the new rule is a welcome development for those of who want to live in a more colorblind world.

c) After devising this rule, publius argues, the court made a procedurally innappropriate summary judgement, not sending the case back to trial for more fact finding, which he deems "pure politics".