EOC Week 2: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court returns for its new term. Several cases are on the docket. One case that stood out for me is one that looks over affirmative action at the University level.

Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action

This case discusses whether a state can amend its constitution to prohibit a public university from using race or sex to make admissions decisions. This case looks to overturn the previous decision made from the Barbara Grutter v Lee Bollinger decision of 2003, when the University of Michigan was allowed to use race as a factor in assessing applicants. In 2006, Michigan residents responded by passing a constitutional amendment banning the practice. Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action is looking to examine whether this state amendment voted on by its residents violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14^th Amendment. The last time the court talked about this issue was in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, where the Supreme Court decided that race relations to create adversity doesn’t violate.

“The court’s ruling in this case will affect Michigan and five other states – California, Arizona, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Washington – that have similar bans. Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from the case, presumably because of her work on the case in 2009 as U.S. Solicitor General. If the court deadlocks 4-4, the 6th Circuit Appeals Court ruling overturning the Michigan ban would become the governing law.” - George E. Curry

In my opinion I agree that universities should be able to diversify their student body. But I’ve never been a fan of Affirmative Action as they promote the idea that a minority (whether racial or gender) isn’t able to achieve something without being chosen to improve a universities outlook. The root of the problem isn’t that universities are horribly disproportionate in diversity, the problem is that America’s public system doesn’t provide inner cities that are predominantly minority an equal opportunity to succeed academically. But that’s for another argument.