Huge Defeat for ‘Reverse Discrimination’
The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled that affirmative action is constitutional in a college admissions case of a Texas University. The Court ruled 4-3 against a white woman who claimed that the University of Texas at Austin denied her admission in what her attorneys called “reverse discrimination.” Justice Elena Kagan recused herself from the case.
Colleges are expected to take this as support for their affirmative action programs, but court watchers caution the UT program is not the same as those in many other schools.
“A Texas law guarantees admission to the university for students in roughly the top ten percent of the graduating class of any Texas high school. To fill the remaining slots, about one fourth of each entering class, the school considers several other factors, including an applicant’s race,” NBC News explains. The case involved the last step, which was upheld.
Some believe had Justice Scalia been alive, he would have voted with the minority, leading to a 4-4 decision. There was not a clear consensus among the justices.
“Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote an opinion dissenting from the court’s decision, read part of his dissent from the bench — a practice reserved for cases in which the justices feel particularly strongly about their view,” Buzzfeed’s Chris Geidner reports. “He was joined in his dissenting opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas also wrote his own dissenting opinion.”
The decision can be read here.
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