Supreme Court upholds University of Texas affirmative action admissions program

[brooklynite]

Source: Washington Post

The Supreme Court on Thursday said University of Texas admission officials may consider the race of student applicants in a limited way to build a diverse student body.

The decision was a surprising win for advocates of affirmative action, who say the benefits of diversity at the nation’s colleges and universities are worth the intrusion on the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection that generally forbids the government from making decisions based on racial classifications.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/06/23/supreme-court-upholds-university-of-texas-affirmative-action-admissions-program/?postshare=1631466691670905&utm_term=.8a7853096aa8

[Skinner]

1. Does this mean it was a 4-4 split?

Anyone know?

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Nothing yet

I'm searching!

[geek tragedy]

5. 4-3, Kagan recused herself

Breyer, Sotomayor, Notorious RBG, Kennedy

vs

Alito, Roberts, Thomas

[JustAnotherGen]

6. Just found it

Thanks!

[Skinner]

9. Kennedy?

Wasn't expecting that.

[geek tragedy]

12. Me neither, this was an upset for the good guys. Full opinion here:

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-981_4g15.pdf

[yallerdawg]

8. 4-3!

One recused.

[annominous]

11. 4-3

Kagan recused herself. It's a win, not a draw.

[rurallib]

18. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion

were Scalia alive it would have won 4-4 with Kagan recusing herself

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Background info

She was inadequate.
https://www.propublica.org/article/a-colorblind-constitution-what-abigail-fishers-affirmative-action-case-is-r

Even among those students, Fisher did not particularly stand out. Court records show her grade point average (3.59) and SAT scores (1180 out of 1600) were good but not great for the highly selective flagship university. The school's rejection rate that year for the remaining 841 openings was higher than the turn-down rate for students trying to get into Harvard.

As a result, university officials claim in court filings that even if Fisher received points for her race and every other personal achievement factor, the letter she received in the mail still would have said no.

It's true that the university, for whatever reason, offered provisional admission to some students with lower test scores and grades than Fisher. Five of those students were black or Latino. Forty-two were white.

Neither Fisher nor Blum mentioned those 42 applicants in interviews. Nor did they acknowledge the 168 black and Latino students with grades as good as or better than Fisher's who were also denied entry into the university that year. Also left unsaid is the fact that Fisher turned down a standard UT offer under which she could have gone to the university her sophomore year if she earned a 3.2 GPA at another Texas university school in her freshman year.

The case was weak to begin with. I had a higher GPA and SAT Scores than her - (perfect on the ACT) and had to settle for Niagara. I never once thought it was because I was black that I didn't get into University of Rochester.

[LiberalFighter]

15. All those facts and she felt she was privileged and should had been accepted.

She has already gone on to graduate from Louisiana State University, her second choice, and is working in finance at a firm in Austin.

Asked by a news reporter what harm she had suffered, she cited only her inability to tap into UT's alumni network and possibly missing out on a better first job.

If tapping into the UT's alumni network and missing out on a better first job was that vital why didn't she take up the offer by University of Texas? She could had been accepted if she had received a 3.2 GPA at another Texas school.

[JustAnotherGen]

16. Yep - and back home

It's not uncommon to do a 2 + 2 program. 2 Years at Monroe Community College then you 'transfer' to a 4 year degree after you have proven yourself.

It's the courage to try and show you have what it takes - that takes grit.

[Stryst]

21. This is what I did

Two years at Grays Harbor Community then two years at Evergreen state. I was a screw up in high school, and didn't really pull my head out until I did a hitch in the Air Force. And it turns out I have FULL access to Evergreen's Alumni resources!

[Igel]

19. Everybody feels they're privileged.

Want an outcry? Try telling 160 average teenagers that they're average. They act like you called them imbeciles. (Okay, many wouldn't know that word. They act like you calling them "really, really stupid people.&quot

Everybody gets a trophy, everybody's special, everybody's been held back and oppressed and slighted. If you screw up, you get a second change, a second second chance, a third second chance. Then if you still screw up, there are ways to recover credit, online classes, and summer school. Then you still screw up you go to various alternative programs. We call this "being held accountable," and many advocates say that there's too much rigor.


BTW, "inability to tap into __________'s network" has been held to be a truly serious matter. It's why men-only organizations had to be segregated. The harm wasn't men sitting around and smoking, drinking, and talking, but men sitting around, smoking, drinking, and talking business, working out details, using connections to network. It's why many feminists in the '70s disliked the idea of fraternities and dismissed comparisons with sororities: Frat brothers network across graduation years, and often hire other brothers.


As for why she didn't take up some other offer, the question often presupposes an answer given the context. That presupposition is probably wrong. She may not even give the original answer if asked today--such rationales tend to be slippery.

[1StrongBlackMan]

4. Fantastic! I've been following this case pretty closely.

it amazed me that critics of the lower court ruling were so comfortable ignoring Miss Abigail's lack of standing in this case (i.e., it never should have survived the first appeal), for the reasons JAG posted in #2.

[JustAnotherGen]

10. Me too

It's a win on the board that holds the line.

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. Yes it is. I suspect the only reason the U of T didn't argue standing is ...

they wanted the court to rule on the issue; rather than, procedurally.

It was a risk; but, a great outcome!

Thank you, Universe for removing Scalia from the bench.

[JustAnotherGen]

17. Gah - Alito is blathering on for pages and pages

And our good friend Thomas of course starts with . . .


As *so and so* writes.

[1StrongBlackMan]

25. Thomas should just get a rubber stamp that reads ...

"wha eva massa say." It would save his Clerks hours of research and typing.

[JustAnotherGen]

26. oh!

[geek tragedy]

7. Here's the opinion itself:

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/15pdf/14-981_4g15.pdf

[LynneSin]

14. Lordie Lordie, who now will help average, lackluster white students these days??

[La Lioness Priyanka]

23. ...

[herding cats]

20. Thank you Justice Kennedy.

This shouldn't even have made it to the SCOTUS, but I'm glad to for this ruling all the same.

[obamanut2012]

22. Wow, go Kennedy

[TexasBushwhacker]

24. Well of course!

"The specific case was brought in 2008 by Abigail Fisher, a white woman who was denied admission to the university. Her suit was organized and funded by a conservative legal organization that opposes racial preferences in government and brought the challenge that resulted in the justices striking a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013."

That conservative organization should have chosen a better test case. Sucks to be them.