Case Particulars

Tribunal

Supreme Court of the United States

Date Filed

March 1, 2021

Docket No.

20-1199 and 21-707

Case Status

Court held that both schools' admissions programs violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Case Overview

A nonprofit representing Asian-American students sued Harvard for discriminating against Asians in admissions decisions. A similar suit was filed against the University of North Carolina, a public university. The cases have exposed the dirty little secret of higher-education admissions: achieving a desired “diverse” racial mix means discriminating against Asian applicants. Now before the Supreme Court, the cases challenges the high court’s holding in Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003), in which the Supreme Court held that it does not violate Equal Protection for schools to consider applicants’ race in order to promote “diversity”. The two cases, which were previously consolidated, were separated after Justice Ketanji Jackson joined the Court; Justice Jackson is a Trustee of Harvard and conflicted out of hearing the Harvard case.

Legal Insurrection Foundation filed an Amicus Curaie brief in support of the Petitioner, Students for Fair Admission.

On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court held that racially discriminatory admissions in higher education violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.