University of Texas Affirmative Action Case Punted By Supreme Court Back to Lower Court

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Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, American-Statesman
In a case involving undergraduate admissions at the University of Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday set aside a lower-court ruling that upheld the university’s consideration of race and ethnicity and ordered additional review.

The high court ruled 7-1 that the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not subject UT’s program to the demanding burden of “strict scrutiny” required under previous Supreme Court rulings.

The decision sends the case back to the 5th Circuit for what Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, called a “searching examination” of whether the university’s racial and ethnic considerations are necessary to obtain the educational benefits of diversity. In a dissenting opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg argued that the appeals court had already done that in its ruling that upheld UT’s program.

UT had asked the high court to uphold its affirmative action program, and the plaintiff had asked that it be struck down. For now, the program remains in place.

“It’s a kind of split-the-baby solution to the problem,” said Steven Schwinn, an associate professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. “It leaves in place the theory of race-based affirmative action in higher education, but it requires a very strong showing that the program is necessary to achieve the university’s interest.”

The case, Fisher v. University of Texas, raised important political and legal questions on what role, if any, race and ethnicity should play in higher education admissions. The questions also underscore wider national debate about racial equality.
(Read the full story at the Austin American-Statesman)

MORE ON THIS STORY:
• Text of Decision: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Supreme Court)
• Supreme Court Sends Texas Affirmative Actions Case Back To Lower Court (NPR)
• Inside the Supreme Court’s affirmative action case (Austin Statesman)
• Supreme Court sends Fisher v. Texas case back to lower court (Daily Texan)
• Race and Admissions: The University of Texas’ Long History (KUT News)
• Sugar Land student dreamed of going to UT-Austin (Chron.com)

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