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 […]
Archive | Affirmative Action
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 […]
Political Profiling and Racial Profiling
Slate columnist Farhad Manjoo has an interesting article arguing that conservatives are right to complain about the IRS’ use of political profiling, but argues that they should use the same reasoning to rethink their support for racial profiling in law enforcement. As he points out the IRS justification for political profiling is very similar to […]
New Scholarship on Originalism and Discrimination
By Ilya Somin on April 12, 2013 6:30 pm in Affirmative Action, Constitutional Theory, Originalism, Racial Discrimination, Sex Discrimination
For a long time, the conventional wisdom among legal scholars has been that an originalist interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment would require courts to uphold laws that discriminate against women and laws banning interracial marriage. While these arguments were once advanced by defenders of sexism and Jim Crow laws, today they are usually used as […]
College Admissions and Affirmative Action for the Well-Off
Instapundit links to this Daily Beast piece: These days, a nearly-perfect GPA is the barest requisite for an elite institution. You’re also supposed to be a top notch athlete and/or musician, the master of multiple extracurriculars. Summers should preferably be spent doing charitable work, hopefully in a foreign country, or failing that, at least attending […]
Supreme Court to Consider Michigan Affirmative Action Ban
Among the orders issued by the Supreme Court this morning was a grant of certiorari in Schuette v. Michigan Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action , in which the question is whether a state ballot initiative prohibiting the consideration of race in state university admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause. The case arises from a lawsuit […]
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 […]
Harvard Law Review Expands Affirmative Action Program to Include Gender
The Harvard Crimson reports: The Harvard Law Review, which has historically been staffed by disproportionately more men than women, has expanded its affirmative action policy to include gender as a criteria in its editor selection process. Following a year in which just 20.5 percent of its elected editors were female, the Law Review will consider […]
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 […]
Litigation Strategy and Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Regents
I will bet anyone (in jurisdictions where it is legal) that the Supreme Court will reverse the Sixth Circuit in Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Regents. Indeed, my main question is how badly the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action loses. My guess is that they get maybe two votes on the Supreme Court. When Ted […]
Coming Soon to the U.S. Supreme Court (Unless the Court Bans Race Preferences First)
The Sixth Circuit just held, in Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. Regents that a state constitutional amendment banning race preferences in public education (among other contexts) violates the Equal Protection Clause, because it — as a constitutional amendment — makes it harder for those who favor race preferences to change state law to allow […]
En Banc Sixth Circuit Voids Michigan Civil Rights Initiative
By an 8-7 vote, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has held that Michigan’s Proposal 2, aka the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, is unconstituional. The Court split along predictable ideological lines, with Democratic nominees siding with the plaintiffs, and Republican nominees voting to uphold the initiative. Judge Cole delivered the opinion for […]