![]() Justice Elena Kagan said she was worried about “a precipitous decline in minority admissions” if the court were to rule against affirmative action in higher education. That has “the potential of causing more of an equal protection problem than it’s actually solving,” she said. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said it would be odd if admissions officers could consider factors like whether applicants were parents, veterans or disabled - but not if they were members of racial minorities. You’re more likely to be viewed as having less academic potential.” You’re more likely to be taught by teachers who are not as qualified as others. “If you’re Black,” she said, “you’re more likely to be in an underresourced school. Justice Sonia Sotomayor said “race does correlate to some experiences and not others.” The court’s three liberal members put up a spirited defense. In general, two themes ran through questions from the court’s conservatives: that educational diversity can be achieved without directly taking account of race and that there must come a time when colleges and universities stop making such distinctions. That approach could limit the sweep of a decision rejecting race-conscious programs. His questions about race-neutral means of achieving diversity suggested that he might be pursuing a characteristically incremental path. He has long been critical of drawing distinctions based on race. ![]() ![]() Roberts Jr., who views himself as the custodian of the court’s independence and authority, may have conflicting impulses in the cases argued Monday. Trump’s appointment of three justices, and it could raise fresh questions about whether the court’s approach to precedent threatens the stability of the law and the court’s own legitimacy.Ĭhief Justice John G. But as its decision in June eliminating the constitutional right to abortion made plain, members of that majority have not hesitated to take bold steps on divisive issues.Ī ruling against the universities would be further evidence of the court’s rightward lurch after President Donald J. If the court does away with affirmative action by the end of its current term, it would represent the second time in the space of a year that its conservative supermajority has jettisoned decades of precedent to overturn a policy that has helped define American life. “What does that mean?” he asked, adding that college admissions are “a zero-sum game” in which granting advantages to one group necessarily disadvantages another. asked a similar question about the term “underrepresented minority.” “It seems to mean everything for everyone.” “I’ve heard the word diversity quite a few times, and I don’t have a clue what it means,” Justice Clarence Thomas said. Questioning from members of the court’s six-justice conservative majority was sharp and skeptical.
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