Affirmative action case analysis

Affirmative Action Case

Fisher v. Texas

Summarize the case's key arguments

Fisher v. Texas is about two white students who were denied admission to the University of Texas in 2008. They felt discriminated against based upon the fact that the school overly relied on race to determine who will be admitted. Both students sued the university. They allege that race is giving unqualified candidates an advantage over applicants (based upon ethnicity). As they felt that there were more neutral indicators. That could be utilized to determining the best applicants. ("Fisher v. Texas," 2013) (Wermeil, 2011)

At the heart of their argument, was the fact that this policy violated the Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment. It also went in direct conflict with Texas House Bill 588. It states, that the University of Texas will accept anyone who is in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. This is regardless of the individual's race, creed, economic background or social class. Those who do not meet these qualifications can apply for acceptance based upon a number of factors. These include: leadership qualities, talents, skills, grade point average (i.e. GPA), ACT / SAT scores, race and family circumstances. In the case of both applicants, they had higher SAT scores and GPAs than the average student. Moreover, they were active in their communities and showed personal initiative through volunteer service. In this aspect, the plaintiffs argued that race outweighed these other variables. ("Fisher v. Texas," 2013) (Wermeil, 2011)

The University of Texas claimed that their policy is in compliance with federal law. Evidence of this can be seen with the precedent established in Gutter v. Bollinger. In this Supreme Court ruling, universities can use race as a deciding factor in determining who will be offered admission. This is because it creates diversity at the school to mirror the population demographics. The University of Texas had lower amounts of minorities using these statistics. The result is that more students from different social, economic and racial groups are given the opportunity to go to college. ("Fisher v. Texas," 2013) (Wermeil, 2011)

Summarize the court's ruling

In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the policy is constitutional. However, they referred the case back to the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court. As they determined, that it is contributing to a certain amount of favoritism of certain racial groups over others. The result is a new policy needs to be created which does not emphasize ethnicity. ("Fisher v. Texas," 2013) (Wermeil, 2011)

To achieve these objectives, the court ordered the university to focus on using race only when there is a lack of neutral alternatives. This is why the case was sent back to the lower court. They have the responsibility for guiding them in creating a workable policy in achieving these objectives. ("Fisher v. Texas," 2013) (Wermeil, 2011)

Discuss the benefit and drawbacks of affirmative action

The benefits of affirmative action are it is changing society by offering all racial groups with greater opportunities. This is improving the standard of living for minorities and encouraging future generations to learn valuable skills. These transformations are happening through taking a more aggressive approach towards discrimination. ("Fisher v. Texas," 2013) (Wermeil, 2011)