The Supreme Court has avoided making a landmark decision regarding affirmative action, at least for now, by sending a case concerning the admissions policy at the University of Texas at Austin back to a lower court, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Essentially the decision was a compromise as it instructed judges in the lower courts to scrutinize the affirmative action programs of colleges on a case by case basis while still allowing the programs to exist for the time being, reports the Washington Post.
"A university must make a showing that its plan is narrowly tailored to achieve the only interest that this Court has approved in this context: the benefits of a student body diversity that 'encompasses a...broad array of qualifications and characteristics of which racial or ethnic origin is but a single though important element,'" Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority decision.
The case was one of the most hotly debated that the Court took on this year. Abigail Fisher has argued that the admissions policy of the University of Texas at Austin unfairly works against white and Asian American students by considering race as a factor and that the policy was responsible for her being denied admission to the university, according to the Washington Post.
"If any state action should respect racial equality, it is university admission," Fisher told the Supreme Court. "Selecting those who will benefit from the limited places available at universities has enormous consequences."
In the ruling the Supreme Court says that the University of Texas at Austin will have to prove that their affirmative action program is the only way the school was able to assemble a diverse student body, according to USA Today.
"The University must prove that the means chosen by the University to attain diversity are narrowly tailored to that goal," Justice Kennedy wrote. "On this point the University receives no deference."
Despite agreeing with the majority Justice Clarence Thomas, the lone African-American judge, wrote an opinion in which he states that he believes that the Court's ruling does not go far enough. Thomas said that the Court should rule that the "use of race in higher education admissions decisions is categorically prohibited" by the Equal Protection Clause, according to USA Today.
While the ruling does not outright eliminate the use of affirmative action when it comes to the admissions of institutes of higher learning the added scrutiny given to the programs may effectively do as much, Edward Blum, the architect of the University of Texas' plan, told the Washington Post.
"The Supreme Court has established exceptionally high hurdles for the University of Texas and other universities and colleges to overcome if they intend to continue using race preferences in their admissions policies," Blum said. "It is unlikely that most institutions will be able to overcome these hurdles."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the lone dissenter in the 7-1 ruling, Justice Elena Kagan was recused.
