June 23, 2003
Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court today issued rulings in the landmark University of Michigan cases on the use of affirmative action in admissions policies, finding that diversity is a compelling state interest for educational programs. The Court also said that race can be a factor in achieving that diversity. The ruling affirmed the 1978 Bakke decision on the constitutionality of affirmative action and turned back the Bush Administration’s claim that race should never be considered a factor in admissions policies.
“This is a great day. This is one of the most important civil rights cases in the last quarter century,” said Lee during the keynote address at the Rainbow Push Coalition and the Citizen Education Fund in Chicago, given just hours after the Supreme Court rulings. “Today the Supreme Court upheld the principle of affirmative action and upheld the idea that diversity is a strength, not a weakness.”
Lee said that she hoped that today’s ruling will effect a change in admission policies in California higher education institutions. “In my home state, we have borne witness to the impact of the attack on affirmative action. With today’s Supreme Court decision, perhaps we can now revisit Prop 209 and right a tremendous wrong,” said Lee. “At many of the top schools in the state, minority enrollment has been cut in half since Prop 209 passed.”
Earlier this year, Lee joined 110 Members of Congress in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in favor of maintaining the affirmative action programs. That brief asked the Court to recognize the educational and political benefits of diversity; to uphold the use of race as one factor among others that can be considered in government decision-making; and to reaffirm that the role of race in this decision making process is not limited to remedying specific instances of identified discrimination.
That brief was one of 78 filed in favor of the University of Michigan programs, including briefs from dozens of Fortune 500 companies, the alma maters of every Supreme Court justice, and 21 retired generals and admirals. The Bush Administration provided one of the 19 briefs against the cases.
“We still have a long way to go toward the fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s dream, but today’s Supreme Court decisions represent a victory for affirmative action, and, more broadly, for justice,” said Lee.
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Supreme Court Upholds Diversity as a Compelling State Interest
Race Can Be a Factor in Admissions Decisions
Washington, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court today issued rulings in the landmark University of Michigan cases on the use of affirmative action in admissions policies, finding that diversity is a compelling state interest for educational programs. The Court also said that race can be a factor in achieving that diversity. The ruling affirmed the 1978 Bakke decision on the constitutionality of affirmative action and turned back the Bush Administration’s claim that race should never be considered a factor in admissions policies.
“This is a great day. This is one of the most important civil rights cases in the last quarter century,” said Lee during the keynote address at the Rainbow Push Coalition and the Citizen Education Fund in Chicago, given just hours after the Supreme Court rulings. “Today the Supreme Court upheld the principle of affirmative action and upheld the idea that diversity is a strength, not a weakness.”
Lee said that she hoped that today’s ruling will effect a change in admission policies in California higher education institutions. “In my home state, we have borne witness to the impact of the attack on affirmative action. With today’s Supreme Court decision, perhaps we can now revisit Prop 209 and right a tremendous wrong,” said Lee. “At many of the top schools in the state, minority enrollment has been cut in half since Prop 209 passed.”
Earlier this year, Lee joined 110 Members of Congress in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in favor of maintaining the affirmative action programs. That brief asked the Court to recognize the educational and political benefits of diversity; to uphold the use of race as one factor among others that can be considered in government decision-making; and to reaffirm that the role of race in this decision making process is not limited to remedying specific instances of identified discrimination.
That brief was one of 78 filed in favor of the University of Michigan programs, including briefs from dozens of Fortune 500 companies, the alma maters of every Supreme Court justice, and 21 retired generals and admirals. The Bush Administration provided one of the 19 briefs against the cases.
“We still have a long way to go toward the fulfillment of Martin Luther King’s dream, but today’s Supreme Court decisions represent a victory for affirmative action, and, more broadly, for justice,” said Lee.
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