Harvard Admissions - Again

From time to time, we provide updates on the Harvard admissions case that is wending its way to the U.S. Supreme Court as a potential test of "affirmative action." Much depends at this point on whether the Court wants to use the Harvard case to come up with a new take on affirmative action in admissions (or elsewhere). There are reasons to think the Court might not want to use this particular case for such a purpose, even if it wants to change direction. The Court can decide simply not to hear the appeal.

From Politico:

Harvard University on Monday urged the Supreme Court to reject Students for Fair Admissions’ petition for race-blind admissions, which is widely believed to become the high court’s next opening to ban affirmative action

“After years of discovery, SFFA produced no persuasive evidence to support its legal claims,” Harvard lawyers wrote in a 47-page brief. “SFFA is not entitled to battle out the facts a third time in this Court.”

The anti-affirmative action group, which represents more than 20,000 students nationwide, in February petitioned the Supreme Court to hear its challenge against the Ivy League school and overturn the ruling in Grutter v. Bollinger, the landmark affirmative action case that has shaped admissions policies for nearly two decades. In Grutter, the Supreme Court decided it was legal for colleges to consider race and use a holistic admissions policy, as long as their affirmative action programs were narrowly tailored. SFFA also asked the high court to decide whether Harvard is violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act “by penalizing Asian-American applicants, engaging in racial balancing, overemphasizing race, and rejecting workable race-neutral alternatives.”...

Full story at https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2021/05/harvard-urges-supreme-court-to-toss-affirmative-action-challenge-2055970 via today's UCOP Daily News Clips.