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Affirmative action case sent back by US Supreme Court | |
(35 minutes later) | |
The US Supreme Court has sent a landmark case on using a student's race as a factor in pubic university admissions back to a lower court. | The US Supreme Court has sent a landmark case on using a student's race as a factor in pubic university admissions back to a lower court. |
The affirmative action case was brought by a white student denied a place at the University of Texas in 2008. | The affirmative action case was brought by a white student denied a place at the University of Texas in 2008. |
Abigail Fisher said the college policy of considering her race violated her civil and constitutional rights. | Abigail Fisher said the college policy of considering her race violated her civil and constitutional rights. |
The ruling appears to leave unresolved many arguments on the use of race as a criterion in college admissions. | |
The justices voted 7-1 on the case, saying that an appeals court had failed to scrutinise the university's admissions policy thoroughly enough when considering whether it guaranteed equal protection to all applicants. | The justices voted 7-1 on the case, saying that an appeals court had failed to scrutinise the university's admissions policy thoroughly enough when considering whether it guaranteed equal protection to all applicants. |
Monday's ruling said: "The reviewing court must ultimately be satisfied that no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity." | Monday's ruling said: "The reviewing court must ultimately be satisfied that no workable race-neutral alternatives would produce the educational benefits of diversity." |
Ms Fisher, who has since graduated from Louisiana State University, filed the lawsuit after she was rejected from the University of Texas in 2008. | Ms Fisher, who has since graduated from Louisiana State University, filed the lawsuit after she was rejected from the University of Texas in 2008. |
'Reverse racism' | |
Students in Texas high schools are automatically admitted to the University of Texas if their academic results place them in the top tier of their class. | |
Ms Fisher's grades did not put her in that category. | Ms Fisher's grades did not put her in that category. |
Race and other factors can be considered when the Texas university is deciding which applicants to accept for any remaining spots - approximately a quarter of the annual student intake. | |
When the Supreme Court heard arguments in Ms Fisher's case, elite private universities such as Harvard and Columbia filed briefings saying that without a legal basis to consider race in admissions it would be impossible for them to guarantee diversity on campus. | |
In a 2003 case involving the University of Michigan, the US Supreme Court upheld the use of race in admissions. | In a 2003 case involving the University of Michigan, the US Supreme Court upheld the use of race in admissions. |
However, the court has become more conservative since then. | However, the court has become more conservative since then. |
Affirmative action, which is known in the UK as positive discrimination, was introduced in the US in the 1960s to ensure equal job opportunities. | |
But in the 1970s the Supreme Court heard cases arguing that the measure amounted to "reverse racism" and could disadvantage white Americans. | |
Affirmative action's proponents say the playing field relating to college admissions remains uneven, amid a lingering legacy of racism despite the gains of the civil rights era. | |
Many conservatives argue that the policy gives preferential treatment to people from ethnic minorities, in an America which prizes self-reliance and pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. | |
However, when the public university system in California decided to drop affirmative action in the 1990s, there was a steep decline in the number of minority students admitted to those colleges. |