Focus on Affirmative Action in Mich.
Focus on Affirmative Action in Mich.
By ALEXANDRA R. MOSES, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday June 26 4:51 PM ET
DETROIT (AP) - Though the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a ruling that led Texas to abandon a raced-based admissions policy at its colleges and universities, it may not be the court's last word on the subject. Two separate appeals winding their way through the courts involve University of Michigan policies that consider race when evaluating applicants to its undergraduate and law schools.
Some experts believe Michigan's debate is headed to the high court. On Monday, the nation's highest court declined to hear Texas' appeal to a 1996 ruling that its law school affirmative action program discriminated against whites. The Michigan cases offer ``very well-written opinions going in different directions, which always helps,'' said Doug Kmiec, dean of the Catholic University of America law school.
In March, U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down the Michigan law school's affirmative action policy saying the admissions criteria were not clearly defined and relied too heavily on race. The university is continuing to use the policy pending appeals. Friedman's ruling contradicted that of U.S. District Judge Patrick Duggan, who in December affirmed Michigan's undergraduate admissions standards, in place since 1999. Duggan ruled that diversity on a public college campus is a compelling state interest and a valid admissions criterion.
Both cases are being appealed to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Oral arguments are scheduled for October. Kmiec said the Supreme Court needs a new case to move the issue of race-based admissions policies forward from its 1978 Bakke case, which allowed consideration of race in university admissions but outlawed racial quotas. ``The court has already staked out its general principal and that is race shouldn't be used for public decision-making without a compelling governmental interest,'' Kmiec said.
``The case that the court wants for the next round is not a case that just
allows those high-level thoughts ... but rather a case that allows those high-level
thoughts ... and applies (them) to a concrete real-world situation.'' But others
argue it is hard to read too much into Monday's action because the Supreme Court
agrees to hear few cases. ``Nobody should read anything into it except the fact
that the Supreme Court was not prepared to address the issue at this time.''
said Robert Sedler, professor of constitutional law at Detroit's Wayne State
University.
``There's just no margin in reading the tea leaves of the Supreme Court,'' added Liz Barry, University of Michigan deputy general counsel. ``This doesn't say anything about how the Supreme Court will affect our case.'' Michigan's law school relies on grades and exam scores but considers applicants who have low scores but ``may help achieve that diversity which has the potential to enrich everyone's education.''
Applicants to the undergraduate school are graded on a 150-point scale. Blacks, Hispanics and American Indians get 20 points for their race - equal to raising their grade-point average a full point on a 4-point scale. Whatever case it chooses, the Supreme Court needs to address affirmative action in admissions policies, said Curt Levey, spokesman for the Center for Individual Rights, a conservative legal group which brought the lawsuits in the Michigan and Texas cases.
``It's an issue of national importance. The U.S courts of appeal are so divided, and there's a lot of confusion concerning the Bakke decision,'' Levey said. ``They sort of owe it to the public.'' -
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