296
Stevens, J., dissenting
Because these constructions of the statute have been accepted by Congress and are unchallenged here, they have the same legal effect as if the private cause of action seeking damages had been explicitly, rather than implicitly, authorized by Congress. We should therefore seek guidance from the text of the statute and settled legal principles rather than from our views about sound policy.
II
We have already noted that the text of Title IX should be accorded " 'a sweep as broad as its language.' " North Haven Bd. of Ed. v. Bell, 456 U. S. 512, 521 (1982) (quoting United States v. Price, 383 U. S. 787 (1966)). That sweep is broad indeed. "No person . . . shall, on the basis of sex, . . . be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance . . . ." 20 U. S. C. § 1681(a). As Judge Rovner has correctly observed, the use of passive verbs in Title IX, focusing on the victim of the discrimination rather than the particular wrongdoer, gives this statute broader coverage than Title VII. See Smith v. Metropolitan School Dist. Perry Twp., 128 F. 3d 1014, 1047 (CA7 1997) (dissenting opinion).5
5 "Unlike Title VII . . . , which focuses on the discriminator, making it unlawful for an employer to engage in certain prohibited practices (see 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-2(a)), Title IX is drafted from the perspective of the person discriminated against. That statute names no actor, but using passive verbs, focuses on the setting in which the discrimination occurred. In effect, the statute asks but a single question—whether an individual was subjected to discrimination under a covered program or activity. . . . And because Title IX as drafted includes no actor at all, it necessarily follows that the statute also would not reference 'agents' of that non-existent actor." Smith v. Metropolitan School Dist. Perry Twp., 128 F. 3d, at 1047; see also Cannon v. University of Chicago, 441 U. S. 677, 691-693 (1979) (recognizing that Congress drafted Title IX "with an unmistakable focus on the benefited class," and did not "writ[e] it simply as a ban on discriminatory conduct by recipients of federal funds or as a prohibition
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