The Supreme Court has struck down the use of racially discriminatory admissions policies at U.S. colleges.
The decision ends the use of so-called affirmative action in higher education, a longtime goal of conservatives.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote (pdf) that for too long universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a dissenting opinion.
The new decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress,” she said.
The case is actually two separate appeals that were heard together on Oct. 31, 2022: Students for Fair Admissions Inc. (SFFA) v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, court file 20-1199, and SFFA v. University of North Carolina (UNC), court file 21-707….