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Ricci v. DeStefano

The Supreme Court's decision in Ricci v. DeStefano has become a topic of debate relative to equal opportunity of employment and Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination. There has been little focus, however, on the effects such a decision may have on college admissions and higher education in the future. This case, in fact, strayed from past precedent or stare decisis by rejecting race as a consideration for promotion over other candidates.

In 1978, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, Allan Bakke testified that he applied to University of California at Davis Medical School in 1973 and was rejected. He applied with higher scores in 1974 and again was rejected. Upon his realization that candidates of lower qualifications were admitted to the school under a special admissions program for minorities, he filed for mandatory, injunctive and declaratory relief, citing the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The court ruled 5-4 that race could not be used for quotas in admissions, but could be considered holistically as a factor in admission.

In the case of Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003, Barbara Grutter applied to University of Michigan Law School and was rejected. She filed a similar suit to Bakke, citing that she was discriminated against on the basis of race in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In her case, however, the court upheld affirmative action policy and argued that considering race in a holistic context was allowed in admissions decisions. The majority argued in a 5-4 decision that eventually admissions should be "colorblind" and they estimated that in 25 years race should not be a key factor in admissions to higher institutions of learning.

Ricci v. DeStefano is quite possibly the beginning of a new era - were the 25 years in Grutter v. Bollinger an over-estimation? The question of affirmative action has always been a polarizing one, to the extent that all three of these court decisions have been primarily ideologically split and with only a one person majority. The question remains as to whether this recent decision will affect the affirmative action policies that justices have helped better define throughout these past three decades. Judge Sotomayor's probable nomination, though, conveys a sense of hope for advocates of affirmative action who see her background, experience, and ideology as enough evidence that she will protect this oft-divisive policy.


Kevin Prior
INeedAPencil Summer Associate
Harvard College 2011

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