On Monday, the Supreme Court decided that it would dig further into affirmative action at university admissions, according to The Washington Post. The court agreed that it would review the decision of a lower court to overturn the voter-approved initiative that bans the use of race in decisions of college acceptance in Michigan.
The ban was defeated by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit after it was approved by 58 percent of the voters in the state of Michigan in 2006. The ban is very similar to ones in Florida and California.
The appeal of the opinion from the 6th Circuit Court by Michigan has been accepted by the Supreme Court. It will begin hearing the case in the term that starts in October. Justice Elena Kagan has recused herself from the case, so only eight justices will hear the case.
Earlier in the current term, the court considered a challenge to the process used by the admissions office at the University of Texas. The admissions office considers race as a factor when it chooses its freshman class. The court has yet to issue a ruling after hearing arguments in October.
The majority of the appeals court ruled that the ban “reorders the political process in Michigan to place special burdens on minority interests” while also violating the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.
Attorney General Bill Schuette (R) wrote the following to the Supreme Court: “Michigan recognizes that affirmative action has long been controversial; some state entities use it for some programs, some do not. But until now, no court has ever held that, apart from remedying specific past discrimination, a government must engage in affirmative action.”