The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear a case regarding the constitutionality of a voter-approved ban on affirmative action in Michigan, in addition to a separate case from Texas that is currently awaiting a decision. Both rulings could impact the future of Proposition 209, California’s ban on affirmative action.
The newly docketed case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, questions the constitutionality of Michigan’s ban on affirmative action, a 2006 measure that keeps public institutions from taking race, ethnicity or gender, among other factors, into account during the admissions process or for contracting and hiring.
The Michigan provision is similar to California’s Proposition 209 – a ban on the use of affirmative action in education, employment and contracting at public institutions. The Supreme Court’s ruling on Michigan’s ban on affirmative action may impact the status of California’s Proposition 209, according to Daily Bruin archives.
The court may release its decision on a separate affirmative action case, Fisher v. University of Texas, as early as this week. The case, filed in 2011, involves a white student who claimed that she was racially discriminated against because of the university’s consideration of race in its admissions decisions.
Last year, the University of California and California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris filed amicus, or friend of the court, briefs with the Supreme Court. The UC and Harris asked the court to rule in favor of the University of Texas.
Compiled by Anjana Amirapu, Bruin contributor.