Decision in Affirmative Action cases

[Kimmie1913]

The Supreme Court has ruled in both U. Mich cases. Upholding one policy and finding the other unconstitutional, the article below is from Yahoo News.

I did a search but did not find a thread on this CT4 and Kelli. If I missed it, please move te post!


Court Limits Race As Factor in Admissions
3 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - In two split decisions, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that minority applicants may be given an edge when applying for admissions to universities, but limited how much a factor race can play in the selection of students.



The high court struck down a point system used by the University of Michigan, but did not go as far as opponents of affirmative action had wanted. The court approved a separate program used at the University of Michigan law school that gives race less prominence in the admissions decision-making process.


The court divided in both cases. It upheld the law school program that sought a "critical mass" of minorities by a 5-4 vote, with Justice Sandra Day O'Connor (news - web sites) siding with the court's more liberal justices to decide the case.


The court split 6-3 in finding the undergraduate program unconstitutional. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist wrote the majority opinion in the undergraduate case, joined by O'Connor and Justices Antonin Scalia (news - web sites), Anthony M. Kennedy, Clarence Thomas (news - web sites) and Stephen Breyer (news - web sites).


Justices John Paul Stevens (news - web sites), David Souter (news - web sites) and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (news - web sites) dissented