Washington, DC – Constitutional Accountability Center attorneys were in the U.S. Supreme Court this morning for oral argument in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, a sequel to the 2013 affirmative action case by the same name, and had the following reaction:

CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra said, “It should be no surprise that after today’s argument, it’s clear this case comes down to Justice Kennedy. He was tough to read, asking questions of both sides, but given his appreciation at the end of last Term for a key piece of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy – a robust Fair Housing Act – his vote in this case shouldn’t be counted out. The Constitution’s text and history are clearly on the University’s side.”

CAC Civil Rights Director David Gans continued, “The framers of the Fourteenth Amendment were the originators of affirmative action, time and again rejecting proposed constitutional language that would have prohibited race-conscious measures designed to foster equality of opportunity. The Framers saw that efforts to ensure equality of opportunity and assist African Americans in securing the full measure of freedom promised in the Fourteenth Amendment were consistent with, not contrary to, the new constitutional guarantee of equality. UT’s sensitive use of race in admissions helps lessen racial isolation and stereotypes and provides pathways to leadership for all persons regardless of race, ensuring the equal protection of the laws to all of its prospective students.”

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Resources:

CAC “friend of the court” brief in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin: http://theusconstitution.org/cases/fisher-v-university-texas-austin-us-sup-ct 

“Up Next at the Supreme Court: A Challenge to Equality for All Americans,” David Gans, The New Republic, December 7, 2015: https://newrepublic.com/article/124955/next-supreme-court-challenge-equality-americans 

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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