“In 2008, Abigail Fisher, who is white, sued the University of Texas at Austin for race discrimination. The school rejected her, and she blamed its affirmative action program, which considers race and ethnicity in a “holistic review” of certain candidates. ‘There were people in my class with lower grades who weren’t in all the activities I was in, who were being accepted into UT, and the only other difference between us was the color of our skin,’ she explained.
Her rhetoric aside, however, Fisher and her lawyers couldn’t prove discrimination in court. In 2009, a federal district court upheld the university’s policy and rejected her lawsuit. She appealed the decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the prior ruling. In a last grasp for success, her lawyers appealed their case to the Supreme Court, which—in a 7–1 decision—vacated the previous ruling and sent it back to the 5th Circuit for a second hearing. Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy explained that the university hadn’t proved ‘its admissions program [was] narrowly tailored to obtain the educational benefits of diversity.’ Everyone had to try again.
That was 2013. The 5th Circuit returned to the question, and last year it came to the same place: UT’s policy was constitutionally kosher. ‘It is equally settled that universities may use race as part of a holistic admissions program where it cannot otherwise achieve diversity,’ wrote the 2–1 majority. Undeterred, Fisher appealed to the Supreme Court again. And on Monday, the Supreme Court took her case, again.” *
Ben Mankiewicz (What The Flick?! & Turner Classic Movies; http://www.twitter.com/BenMank77) and Ana Kasparian (http://www.twitter.com/AnaKasparian) discuss on The Young Turks. Tell us what you think in the comment section below.
*Read more here http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2015/06/fisher_v_university_of_texas_the_supreme_court_might_just_gut_affirmative.html
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