SCOTUS: Affirmative Action Case Sent Back to Lower Courts

The Supreme Court sent an affirmative action case back to the lower courts after it determined that a Texas university’s decision to reject a white student might not have been in accordance with previous decisions.

As the Raw Story summarized:

The court voted 7-1 in favor of sending Fisher v. University of Texas (PDF) back to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals because the justices felt it was not properly weighed under standards set forth in Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 ruling and key tentpost under affirmative action that narrowly permits universities to use race and ethnic origin as a criteria for admission.

“The District Court and Court of Appeals confined the strict scrutiny inquiry in too narrow a way by deferring to the University’s good faith in its use of racial classifications and affirming the grant of summary judgment on that basis,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the court’s majority. “The Court vacates that judgment, but fairness to the litigants and the courts that heard the case requires that it be remanded so that the admissions process can be considered and judged under a correct analysis.”

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/06/61306-scotus-does-not-rubber-stamp-affirmative-action-case/