Show Notes - Students For Fair Admissions v Harvard
Episode:
#52
Title:
The Supreme Court Solves Racism
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. ___ (2023)
Summary:
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, 600 U.S. ___ (2023), is a landmark decision[1] of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions processes violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.[2] With its companion case, Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina, the Supreme Court effectively overruled Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) which validated some affirmative action in college admissions provided that race had a limited role in decisions.
This case turned out as a 6-3 split. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the Court, in which he was joined by Associate Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Bret Cavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
The dissent was authored by Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor., in which she was joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Of special note is the brilliant concurring opinion delivered by Justice Thomas from the bench! which is rarely ever done, on the rare occasions it does that tends to signal there is something uniquely important being discussed. In this instance we find Justice Thomas delivering (what is probably the first and) undoubtedly the best originalist defense of the colorblind Constitution.
This Episode…
In this episode we discuss the background of this case, as well as summarizing the opinion of the court, discussed in a manner that will make understanding the important issues of this case equally accessible and useful to lawyers and non-lawyers alike. Along with briefly discussing the notable strengths and weaknesses of the majority opinion.
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