Dive Summary:
- The U.S. Supreme Court has turned back a race-based college admissions case to a federal appeals court to subject it to a higher degree of scrutiny in a 7-1 decision (Justice Elena Kagan presumably recused herself due to previous involvement in the case during her time in the Justice Department).
- The case pits Abigail Fisher, a white Texan woman, against the University of Texas; Fischer claims she was denied admission to the university because of affirmative action-based admissions policies.
- Previously upheld by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the University of Texas' admissions policy considers race as one of many factors in admitting approximately one-quarter of its freshman class.
From the article:
Kennedy said the appeals court did not test the Texas plan under the most exacting level of judicial review. He said such a test is required by the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Grutter v. Michigan upholding affirmative action in higher education.
"As the Court said in Grutter, 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,'" Kennedy said.