SCOTUS to Revisit Affirmative Action in College Admissions
Based on what happened last week, is there any question how they’ll rule?
Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher ed reports.
Supreme Court Returns to Affirmative Action
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court agreed today to review the constitutionality of the consideration of race and ethnicity in college admissions cases.
The case involves the admissions practices at the University of Texas at Austin. It is possible that the Supreme Court could rule in a narrow way about UT. But the case also gives the justices, several of whom are dubious of the consideration of race by schools and colleges, a chance to limit or ban the consideration of race in college admissions. The case will now be heard in the fall, with a decision likely in early 2016. The issues in this case are likely to be debated in the 2016 presidential race.
As is the norm in cases it agrees to hear, the Supreme Court did not issue any explanation. But the notification that the justices would take the case confirmed, as expected, that Associate Justice Elena Kagan would recuse herself from consideration of the case. Kagan was solicitor general in the Obama administration before being appointed to the court, and presumably worked on the case in that capacity.
The Supreme Court’s 2013 ruling is in the same case that has now returned to the justices.
Ruling 7 to 1, the court in 2013 found that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit had erred in not applying “strict scrutiny” to the policies of UT Austin. The case is Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, in which Abigail Fisher, a white woman rejected for admission by the university, said that her rights were violated by UT-Austin’s consideration of race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. Fisher’s lawyers argued that the University of Texas need not consider race because it has found another way to assure diversity in the student body. That is the “10 percent plan,” under which those in the top 10 percent of Texas high schools are assured admission to the public college or university of their choice.
Supreme Court will once again consider affirmative action in college admissions (Inside Higher Ed | News)
Comments
What makes me so angry about this :
More than 20 years ago the first cases like this made their way to SCOTUS, and they said that “well, we’ll revisit this in 20 years, and by then we can see if it needs to be struck down.” (total paraphrase)
They figured by SAYING that precedent would be set, they would likely be off the bench, and MAYBE they’d reconsider.
It was a sham. Preferences by color or gender fly directlyin the face of our system of law – but they don’t care.