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On October 10, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for Fisher v. University of Texas. The petitioner, Abigail Fisher, a white student, challenged the university's consideration of race in the undergraduate admissions process. Fisher, who was denied admission to UT Austin in Fall 2008, argued that UT's use of race in admissions decisions violated her right to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.
After the Fifth Circuit's Hopwood v. Texas decision in 1996, UT's race-conscious admissions ceased. In response, the Texas Legislature adopted the Top 10 Percent Law. Under this law, which affected admissions cycles beginning in 1997, seniors in the top 10 percent of their high school class are guaranteed admission to any Texas state university. The primary objective of the law is to draw in the best students from each Texas school, including students from predominantly black or hispanic areas, in order to achieve higher levels of diversity.
Following the Supreme Court upholding a race-conscious admissions program at the University of Michigan Law School in Grutter v. Bollinger in 2003, UT then reinstated a consideration of race in admissions decisions for those who don't fall within the Top 10 Percent Law.
The question presented was whether the Supreme Court's decisions interpreting the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, including Grutter, permitted UT's use of race in undergraduate admissions decisions. Fisher claimed that either this use of race did not fall into the constitutional parameters of Grutter or that Grutter must be overturned.
Oral argument before the Supreme Court occurred on October 10, 2012. Justice Kagan recused herself from the case because of her participation as solicitor general when the case was before the court of appeals.
The Supreme Court ruled on June 24, 2013, by a vote of 7 to 1, to vacate the Circuit Court's opinion and remand the case back to the 5th Circuit for review under the "strict scrutiny" standard.
The 5th Circuit heard oral arguments on November 13, 2013, and ruled in favor of UT by a vote of 2 to 1 on July 15, 2014. On November 12, 2014, the 5th Circuit declined to rehear the case. Fisher petitioned to have the Supreme Court to review the case again, and that request was granted on June 29, 2015. Oral argument before the Supreme Court occurred on December 9, 2015. The Supreme Court ruled on June 23, 2016, by a vote of 4 to 3, to affirm the Circuit Court's opinion .
See Fisher v. University of Texas, 631 F.3d 213 (5th Cir. 2011).
See Fisher v. University of Texas, 133 S. Ct. 2411, 570 US __, 186 L. Ed. 2d 474 (2013).
See Fisher v. University of Texas, 758 F.3d 633 (5th Cir. 2014).
See Fisher v. University of Texas, 579 U. S. __ (2016).
George Nation III, "Something Strange Indeed," Inside Higher Ed, June 27, 2016.
Michele Moses, "Fisher and Democratic Dialogue," Inside Higher Ed, June 27, 2016.
"'Fisher' in Context: Making Sense of the Decision," Chronicle of Higher Education, June 23, 2016.
Matthew Watkins and Neena Satija, "Fisher Ruling Could Spur Changes to Texas' Top 10 Percent Rule," Texas Tribune, June 23, 2016.
Nick Anderson, "Will Supreme Court End Affirmative Action in College Admissions?," Washington Post, June 16, 2016.
Matthew Watkins, "Abbott: "I Would Like to See" Top 10 Percent Rule Change," Texas Tribune, May 19, 2016.
Editorial, "Breyer’s Preferences Ploy," Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2015.
Gregory Fenves, "Safeguarding Student Diversity," Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2015.
Editorial, "Justice Kennedy’s Racial Do-Over," Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2015.
Richard Wolf, "At Texas' Flagship University, Many Fear for Diversity," USA Today, December 2, 2015.
Nashwa Bawab, "SG Halts Affirmative Action Resolution," Daily Texan, November 18, 2015.
Matthew Adams, "University Files Respondent Brief in Fisher Case," Daily Texan, October 27, 2015.
Matthew Watkins, "UT to Supreme Court: We Need Affirmative Action," Texas Tribune, October 26, 2015.
Caleb Wong, "University to File Brief Regarding UT v. Fisher Case," Daily Texan, October 26, 2015.
Daniel Hung, "Affirmative Action Likely to be Struck Down," Daily Texan, October 25, 2015.
Thomas Dowling, "Supreme Court to Tackle Affirmative Action," USA Today, October 9, 2015.
Matthew Adams, "NAACP Collects Data for Brief in Fisher v. UT," Daily Texan, October 7, 2015.
Jordan Rudner, "Texas Cases Factor in New Supreme Court Term," Texas Tribune, October 6, 2015.
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Rick Jervis, "Voices: Affirmative Action Helps, But More is Needed," USA Today, July 5, 2015.
Adam Liptak, "Supreme Court to Weigh Race in College Admissions," New York Times, June 29, 2015.
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"Court Backs UT in Race-Admissions Case," Austin American-Statesman, November 12, 2014.
Alex Wilts, "Law Professors Say Fisher Case Has Uncertain Future," Daily Texan, August 25, 2014.
Lisa Falkenberg, "Abigail Fisher Needs to Get on With Her Life," Houston Chronicle, August 7, 2014.
David Davis, Jr., "Diversity Goals Do Not Benefit Black Students," Daily Texan, July 20, 2014.
Reeve Hamilton, "Appeals Court: UT-Austin May Use Race in Admissions," Texas Tribune, July 15, 2014.
Benjamin Wermund, "Appeals Court Upholds UT Admissions Policy," Houston Chronicle, July 15, 2014.
Editorial, "The Racial Runaround," Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2013.
Jacob Kerr, "Fisher v. UT Placed on Appellate Schedule," Daily Texan, September 24, 2013.
Ilya Shapiro, "Fighting Dirty to Save Affirmative Action," USA Today, August 7, 2013.
Erwin Chemerinsky, "What's Next for Affirmative Action?," ABA Journal, August 6, 2013.
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Editorial, "The Texas Race Dodge," Wall Street Journal, June 24, 2013.
Adam Liptak, "Justices Step Up Scrutiny of Race in College Entry," New York Times, June 24, 2013.
Adam Liptak, "Supreme Court Weighs Cases Redefining Legal Equality," New York Times, June 23, 2013.
Natasha Kumar Warikoo, "Who Gets Admitted to College?," Los Angeles Times, June 20, 2013.
"Editorial: Discrimination By Another Name," Washington Times, June 14, 2013.
Sherrilyn A. Ifill, "Race vs. Class: The False Dichotomy," New York Times, June 13, 2013.
Linda Greenhouse, "What's Your Hurry?," New York Times, June 12, 2013.
Richard Wolf, "Supreme Court to Make Crucial Rulings on Race," USA Today, May 9, 2013.
"Unequal Protection," The Economist, April 27, 2013.
David Leonhardt, "The Liberals Against Affirmative Action," New York Times, March 9, 2013.
Gail Heriot, "The Sad Irony of Affirmative Action," National Affairs, Winter 2013.
Richard D. Kahlenberg, "Affirmative Action Based on Income," Washington Post, November 8, 2012.
Ethan Bronner, "Asian-Americans in the Argument," New York Times, November 1, 2012.
David Leonhardt, "Rethinking Affirmative Action," New York Times, October 13, 2012.
Jason L. Riley, "Roberts and the Left," Wall Street Journal, October 12, 2012.
Adam Liptak, "Justices Weigh Race as Factor at Universities," New York Times, October 10, 2012.
Bill Powers, "An Admissions Policy That Prizes Diversity," Wall Street Journal, October 10, 2012.
Ben Wolfgang, "High Court to Again Consider Racial Quotas," Washington Times, October 9, 2012.
Mike Tolson, "Supreme Court to Take Up UT Admission Case," Houston Chronicle, October 7, 2012.
Lincoln Kaplan, "Colleges Value Diversity, but Will the Court?," New York Times, October 6, 2012.
Ben Wieder, "Affirmative Action Gets a Hearing," Stateline, October 5, 2012.