Chief justice says the Constitution does not allow it.
The Supreme Court issued a decision that stated affirmative action policies for admission to colleges and universities are unconstitutional. They stated that institutions of higher education that use race as a qualifier are in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protections Clause.
America’s colleges and universities must change the manner by which they admit students and find race-neutral alternatives in the promotion of campus diversity.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said many schools of higher education have “for too long wrongly concluded that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned, but the color of their skin. This Nation’s constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
He said, “A benefit to a student who overcame racial discrimination, for example, must be tied to that student’s courage and determination.“
“Or a benefit to a student whose heritage or culture motivated him or her to assume a leadership role or attain a particular goal must be tied to that student’s unique ability to contribute to the university. In other words, the student must be treated based on his or her experiences as an individual—not on the basis of race,” he wrote in the opinion.
The court cited a study by Harvard University that found around 40 percent of American colleges take race into account during admissions.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and Justice Elena Kagan dissented from the decision.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Chief Justice Roberts as he heads the Supreme Court.
- For the justices of the Supreme Court to seek God’s wisdom as they pick the cases they will hear in the fall.
Sources: News Nation, Fox News, ABC News
