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发帖数: 5456 | 4 WASHINGTON—The Supreme Court said Monday it would again consider
affirmative action at public universities, the third time since 2003 the
issue of race-based admissions has come before the justices.
The court said it would examine admissions practices at the University of
Texas at Austin, which has been at the epicenter of the affirmative action
debate since the 1990s, when a federal appeals court blocked the flagship
campus from considering race until a 2003 Supreme Court decision reinstated
the practice.
The case will be heard in the court’s next term, which begins Oct. 5.
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The case was filed on behalf of Abigail Fisher, a white student who was
rejected by UT-Austin for the entering class of 2008 and later graduated
from Louisiana State University. She contended her 14th Amendment right to
equal protection of the law was violated because the Texas school considers
race as a factor in a small percentage of its admissions decisions.
The Supreme Court first heard Ms. Fisher’s case in October 2012, but after
eight months of deliberation it didn’t rule on whether the school’s
program was constitutional. Instead, it clarified the legal standard of
review and sent the case back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for more
deliberations.
That June 2013 opinion, by Justice Anthony Kennedy, recalled cases from 1978
and 2003 where the court found that assembling a racially diverse class was
a compelling state interest to which federal courts should defer. But
Justice Kennedy stressed the school shouldn’t receive deference when courts
examine the methods used to attain diversity.
“It remains at all times the university’s obligation to demonstrate, and
the judiciary’s obligation to determine, that admissions processes ‘ensure
that each applicant is evaluated as an individual and not in a way that
makes an applicant’s race or ethnicity the defining feature of his or her
application,’” Justice Kennedy wrote, citing the 2003 precedent.
Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas,
Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor joined the 2013 opinion,
which sent the case back to the Fifth Circuit to be examined under that
standard.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented, saying she believed UT already had
justified its admissions system. Justice Elena Kagan, who as Obama
administration solicitor general backed the university’s position at
earlier stages of litigation, has recused herself from the case.
After reconsidering Ms. Fisher’s claim, the Fifth Circuit again upheld the
university’s admissions system, a decision the court Monday agreed to
review.
Most minorities attending the Austin campus are admitted through a race-
neutral policy that, in general, provides a place to any Texas high-school
student in the top 10% of his or her graduating class. Because of Texas’
residential segregation, many neighborhood high schools are dominated by a
single racial or ethnic group, meaning the top 10-plan generates a diverse
entering class.
The university also admits some applicants by examining their academic and
personal qualities beyond class rank, and has considered race as an
attribute in building what it calls a critical mass of minority students.
Supreme Court Decisions of 2014-15
ENLARGE
Some minority students admitted through this alternate policy have higher
test scores and better academic qualifications than those who enter through
the top-10 plan, because they attend more rigorous schools, often in
predominantly white neighborhoods, where there is far more competition for
high class rank.
Such students are important to the university for a number of reasons,
including its own reputation, since ratings published by U.S. News & World
Report and other guides often factor in the test scores of entering students.
“The university’s commitment to using race as one factor in an
individualized, holistic admissions policy allows us to assemble a student
body that brings with it the educational benefits of diversity for all
students,” said UT-Austin President Gregory Fenves. “Our admissions policy
is narrowly tailored, constitutional and has been upheld by the courts
multiple times.”
Ms. Fisher’s lawsuit is being backed by the Project on Fair Representation,
an advocacy group that has organized several challenges to laws and
practices intended to benefit minorities.
“I hope the justices will rule that UT is not allowed to treat
undergraduate applicants differently because of their race or ethnicity,”
Ms. Fisher said, in a statement released by the Project on Fair
Representation.
Write to Jess Bravin at [email protected]
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