The issue of affirmative action in college admissions ran into a solid wall of conservative skepticism at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, but a long and contentious hearing gave both sides reason to wonder whether the opponents have enough votes to end it.
The answer will almost surely be provided by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, who has never upheld a race-conscious plan like the one being challenged in this case from the University of Texas at Austin. But Kennedy has also been reluctant to say race may never be used, and on Wednesday he seemed less convinced than the court’s other conservatives that he had all the information needed to pass judgment on UT’s program.
At times, he wondered about ordering another judicial examination of whether UT’s program has had the success it claims; at others, he seemed to think even that would not make the decision easier.
The challengers are contesting only UT’s unusual program. But the court could go farther, saying the time has come to no longer allow colleges to consider race at all when building their student bodies.
Read more at The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/supreme-court-seems-divided-over-university-of-texas-race-conscious-admissions/2015/12/09/e413cfce-9e70-11e5-8728-1af6af208198_story.html