On Friday, I noted what I deemed to be a strange response from a self-described “group of Latino/a law professors” to a piece I wrote for Scotusblog on affirmative action and Hispanics after Fisher; strange primarily because I was addressing the diversity rationale for affirmative action, which is the rationale approved of by the Supreme […]
Archive | Fisher v. University of Texas
Strange Response from “A Group of Latino/a Law Professors”
A self-described “group of Latino/a Law Professors” has published a strange response to my commentary on Hispanics and affirmative action after Fisher, published on Scotus blog, noted by me here, and followed up yesterday. Why strange? Because the response has very little to do with my post. My post, being commentary on a Supreme Court […]
Brief Followup on Post on Hispanics and Affirmative Action after Fisher
I’ve said most of these things in previous posts, but judging from the comments, memories are short (and we get a lot of new readers the last week of the Supreme Court term), so let me reiterate: (1) I think private universities should be free to have whatever affirmative action policies they want, for whatever […]
Stuart Taylor’s Response to My Post on Prospects for Challenges to University Affirmative Action Policies After Fisher
By Ilya Somin on June 27, 2013 12:10 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
Well-known columnist Stuart Taylor has posted a thoughtful response to my critique of his earlier post arguing that the prospects for future challenges to university affirmative policies after Fisher are bleak: Ilya Somin has posted a critique of my Minding The Campus commentary worrying that the Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas […]
Will There be More Challenges to Affirmative Action Policies in the Wake of Fisher?
By Ilya Somin on June 25, 2013 8:40 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
Unlike me, co-blogger David Bernstein and widely respected columnist Stuart Taylor believe that the Court’s recent decision in Fisher v. University of Texas was a setback for opponents of affirmative action. They agree that the Court’s ruling raised the legal standards that affirmative action programs must meet in order to survive judicial scrutiny. But they […]
Fisher is a Significant Loss for Opponents of Affirmative Action Preferences
Sure, the Court tightened the official standards for preferences. But judging from past experience, unless otherwise compelled by state officials in a few conservative states, university officials will ignore Fisher to the extent it conflicts with their current practices. The only way Fisher can then be enforced is through lawsuits over university policies, which are […]
Hispanics and Affirmative Action after Fisher
My commentary is up at Scotusblog. Here are the key paragraphs: Hispanics can be the direct descendants of Spanish conquistadors, their indigenous victims, African slaves, immigrants from anywhere in the world, or any combination of these. Hispanics’ ancestors have come to the U.S. from any one of twenty-one very diverse Spanish-speaking countries, plus possibly Portugal, […]
Competing Interpretations of Fisher
By Ilya Somin on June 24, 2013 2:49 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
Commentary on today’s Supreme Court decision in Fisher v. University of Texas seems to be divided between those who believe, as I do, that the ruling tightens judicial scrutiny of university affirmative action plans, and those who contend it will make no real difference. Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog suggests that “affirmative action survives at least […]
Fisher, the Texas Ten Percent Plan, and “Race-Neutral” Alternatives to Affirmative Action
By Ilya Somin on June 24, 2013 12:41 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
When it was litigated in the lower courts, most observers thought that the most distinctive aspect of Fisher v. University of Texas is that the racial preferences used in its affirmative action plan were grafted on top of the Texas Ten Percent Plan, which guarantees any Texan admission to the UT so long as they […]
Preliminary Thoughts on Fisher v. University of Texas
By Ilya Somin on June 24, 2013 11:31 am in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Racial Discrimination
Today’s Supreme Court decision in Fisher v. University of Texas is a significant victory for opponents of affirmative action in higher education. Formally, the 7-1 ruling written by Justice Anthony Kennedy only remands the case to the court of appeals for consideration under the “strict scrutiny” standard, which requires the government to show that racial […]
Chemerinsky on Color Blindness
By David Bernstein on March 19, 2013 11:37 am in Academia, Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas
Atlantic: Erwin Chemerinsky, founding dean of the University of California, Irvine School of Law, said that the concept of colorblindness holds great rhetorical appeal but that “there is no basis for concluding that the 14th Amendment equal protection clause requires colorblindness.” In drafting the 14th Amendment, he said, Congress recognized “an enormous difference between a […]
The Sad Irony of Affirmative Action
Gail Heriot has a powerful affirmative action piece over at National Affairs. Her piece elaborates on the important work of Richard Sander, who guest blogged here last year. They contend — and offer compelling empirical evidence — that affirmative action affirmatively harms its supposed beneficiaries. In the last paragraph, Gail wonders whether this argument will […]
Richard Kahlenberg on Racial Preferences and Gay Marriage
By Ilya Somin on December 14, 2012 11:50 pm in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights
In a recent post, I wrote about the growing number of people who oppose racial preferences in education, while also supporting gay marriage. Richard Kahlenberg, a long-time advocate of replacing race-based affirmative action with socioeconomic affirmative action, can be added to the list: The Supreme Court’s decision to hear gay-marriage cases from New York and […]
Opposing Affirmative Action While Supporting Gay Marriage
By Ilya Somin on December 11, 2012 1:23 am in Affirmative Action, Fisher v. University of Texas, Gay Marriage
In a recent post, co-blogger Orin Kerr writes that “few people have the same instinctive reaction to both [the affirmative action and gay marriage] cases” that the Supreme Court is likely to decide in the next few months. He means that few people want the Court to invalidate both affirmative programs and state and federal […]
Just How Unpopular are Race Preferences in Admissions?
This unpopular: At Brown University, long known for being among the most politically correct universities in the country, and where Obama supporters outnumber Romney supporters by better than 9 to 1, only 35% of students think the university should consider race in student admissions or in faculty hiring. H/T Eric Muller, who provided a link […]