Fisher v. University of Texas
The Court Rules That Texas’s Race-Conscious Admissions Program Is Constitutional
Fisher v. Texas was featured in Race in College Admissions, Supreme Court Debates (Jan. 2016). The following is excerpted from the summary of the 4-to-3 majority opinion written by Justice Kennedy, as prepared by the Court Reporter of Decisions: The race-conscious admissions program in use at the time of Petitioner’s application is lawful under the Equal Protection Clause. Fisher v. University of Texas (2013) sets out three controlling principles relevant to assessing the constitutionality of a public university’s affirmative action program. First, a university may not consider race “unless the admissions process can withstand strict scrutiny” — i.e., it must…
