It looks like the highly charged issue of affirmative action could be headed to the Supreme Court -- that is if folks like Michigan Atty. General Bill Schuette have their way.
The New York Times reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled, 8 to 7 on Thursday that Michigan’s voter-approved 2006 ban on affirmative action in university admissions was unconstitutional. The Michigan ban also addressed government contracting and hiring.
In response to the ruling, Schuette said he planned to appeal to the highest court in the land.
“Entrance to our great universities must be based upon merit,” he said in a statement.
Affirmative action in college admissions has long been a controversial issue, and one that is not likely to be resolved in court any time soon.
Of Thursday's ruling, the Times wrote:
The ruling, in Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action v. University of Michigan, was not based on racial discrimination, but rather on a violation of the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. The ban, the court said, unfairly placed a special burden on supporters of race-conscious admissions policies.
People trying to change any other aspect of university admissions policies, the court said, had several avenues open: they could lobby the admissions committee, petition university leaders, try to influence the college’s governing board or take the issue to a statewide initiative. Those supporting affirmative action, on the other hand, had no alternative but to undertake the “long, expensive and arduous process” of amending the state Constitution.
“The existence of such a comparative structural burden undermines the equal protection clause’s guarantee that all citizens ought to have equal access to the tools of political change,” said Judge R. Guy Cole Jr., writing for the majority.
Michigan and seven other states, including Florida and California, forbid the consideration of race in university admissions.
