Yesterday [Thursday, June 22] the Supreme Court handed down several decisions, and among them was their decision on Fisher v. University of Texas, which involved the university’s admission policy that took race into account when accepting new students.
In a 4-3 decision, the Court decided to reject the challenge to the University’s policy, brought forward by Abigail Fisher, a white woman who claimed the University discriminated against her based on her race, and subsequently denied her admittance to the University. She has since graduated from Louisiana State University.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the majority opinion and stated that the Affirmative Action policy did not break the threshold that the Supreme Court had set in previous cases. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote a scathing dissent, saying that the policy in dispute was “affirmative action gone berserk.”
President Barack Obama, speaking to reporters at the White House said this about the decision:
“I’m pleased that the Supreme Court upheld the basic notion that diversity is an important value in our society. We are not a country that guarantees equal outcomes, but we do strive to provide an equal shot to everybody.”
While the concept of Affirmative Action was not struck down in this case, the decision does leave the door open for future cases to be brought against policies that use Affirmative Action in admission processes.
Respect: NYTimes
