Case

Legal Insurrection Foundation Files Amicus Curiae Brief in Students for Fair Admissions v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College et al.

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.

Case Documents

Media Coverage

William A. Jacobson, Supreme Court: Harvard and UNC Affirmative Action “invalidated under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment”, LEGAL INSURRECTION (June 29, 2023)

Johanna Markind, SCOTUS Affirmative Action Reply Briefs: Harvard and UNC Make Arguments Similar To Segregationists, LEGAL INSURRECTION (August 26, 2022).

Johanna Markind, ADL’s SCOTUS Brief: Harvard’s Discriminatory Admissions Policies OK Because College Meant Well, LEGAL INSURRECTION (August 7, 2022).

Mike LaChance, Harvard and UNC Continue Defending the Use of Race in Admissions, LEGAL INSURRECTION (August 6, 2022).

William A. Jacobson, Higher Ed Establishment v. Asian Students at SCOTUS, LEGAL INSURRECTION (Aug 3, 2022).

William A. Jacobson and Johanna E. Markind, Higher ed unites against Asian students in Supreme Court’s Harvard discrimination case, NEW YORK POST (August 3, 2022).

Johanna Markind, Harvard SCOTUS Case: American Bar Association Supports “Race-Conscious Admissions Policies”, LEGAL INSURRECTION (August 2, 2022).

Johanna Markind, SCOTUS Splits Up Affirmative Action Cases So KBJ Can Participate On UNC, After She Recused From Harvard Case, LEGAL INSURRECTION (July 26, 2022).

William A. Jacobson, Our SCOTUS Brief: “The Grand Judicial Experiment of Excusing Racial Discrimination in University Admissions … Has Failed”, LEGAL INSURRECTION (May 9, 2022).

William A. Jacobson, Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Harvard and UNC Affirmative Action Cases, LEGAL INSURRECTION (January 24, 2022).