Supreme Court May Revisit Racial Preferences

Ashley Thorne

NAS is a "friend of the court" in what could be a landmark case on the diversity rationale for racial preferences in college admissions. Our press release outlines the argument in the amicus brief we joined, written by the Pacific Legal Foundation. An excerpt:

In January 2011, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld racial preferences, but one of the judges on the panel, Emilio M. Garza, wrote a 30-page “special concurrence” to accompany his decision. He wrote that although he felt that the 2003 decision in Grutter v. Bollinger bound him to decide as he did, he considered Grutter a “misstep” which only the Supreme Court could rectify. He wrote, “Yesterday’s racial discrimination was based on racial preference; today’s racial preference results in racial discrimination.” Garza’s opinion may have set up an opportunity for the Supreme Court to at least clarify, if not repeal race-based preferences.

  • Share

Most Commented

January 8, 2025

1.

NAS Condemns the AHA's “Scholasticide” Resolution

The National Association of Scholars condemns the “Resolution to Oppose Scholasticide in Gaza,” which the members of the American Historical Association passed by 428 t......

January 27, 2025

2.

Exclusive Documents: UC-Boulder Breaks Civil Rights Law to Advance Racial Preferences

New FOIA documents grant a window into how the University of Colorado-Boulder, in the name of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, discriminates on the basis of protected class and upholds a co......

February 24, 2025

3.

NAS Applauds the American Bar Association's Suspension of DEI Rules

The American Bar Association must now move beyond suspending the enforcement of its misbegotten rules to the elimination of the rules themselves....

Most Read

May 15, 2015

1.

Where Did We Get the Idea That Only White People Can Be Racist?

A look at the double standard that has arisen regarding racism, illustrated recently by the reaction to a black professor's biased comments on Twitter....

October 12, 2010

2.

Ask a Scholar: What is the True Definition of Latino?

What does it mean to be Latino? Are only Latin American people Latino, or does the term apply to anyone whose language derived from Latin?...

May 26, 2010

3.

10 Reasons Not to Go to College

A sampling of arguments for the idea that college may not be for everyone....