Justices’ past affirmative action views, in their own words
Chief Justice John Roberts
CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS
In his 17 years leading the court Roberts has repeatedly opposed affirmative action policies and criticized race-based categorizations.
In a 2007 case in which the court rejected efforts to combat segregation in Seattle schools he wrote: "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." And in a different case involving race in redistricting he memorably wrote: "It is a sordid business, this divvying us up by race."
The last time the court considered an affirmative action case, in 2015, Roberts asked about the benefits of diversity this way during arguments: "What unique perspective does a minority student bring to a physics class?"
Samuel Alito
SAMUEL ALITO
Alito has made no secret of his disagreement with the court's affirmative action rulings. In 2016 when the court upheld a University of Texas admissions program that takes account of race — a ruling surprising some observers — Alito wrote a dissent that was more than twice as long as the majority opinion. He also summarized his dissent out loud in court, a rare step justices take as a way of emphasizing their displeasure.
Sonia Sotomayor
SONIA SOTOMAYOR
The liberal Sotomayor has repeatedly and proudly said that she's a "product of affirmative action." The court's first Hispanic justice grew up in the Bronx, New York, and attended Princeton on a full scholarship. She excelled and went on to Yale Law School. Affirmative action was a "door opener that changed the course of my life," she has said.
On the court, Sotomayor has defended affirmative action, most strongly perhaps in a 2014 case in which her colleagues upheld a Michigan affirmative action ban passed in the wake of the court's Grutter decision. "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination," she wrote, pointedly paraphrasing Roberts.
Elena Kagan
ELENA KAGAN
Before becoming a Supreme Court justice, Kagan was dean of Harvard Law School and President Barack Obama's top Supreme Court lawyer as solicitor general. She sat out earlier affirmative action cases at the court, likely because of her involvement in the cases while in government. The Obama administration took positions supporting affirmative action.
Ketanji Brown Jackson
KETANJI BROWN JACKSON
Jackson, who earlier this year became the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court, could have a lot to say on the topic of affirmative action. While the group challenging Harvard's and UNC's policies argues that the Constitution is "colorblind," Jackson said earlier this month in a different case that she believes constitutional amendments made following the Civil War were adopted in a race-conscious way.
Jackson will only participate in the UNC case. During her confirmation hearings earlier this year the liberal justice pledged to sit out the Harvard case because she was a member of the school's board.
After bans on affirmative action in states from California to Florida, colleges have tried a range of strategies to achieve a diverse student body.
If student loan forgiveness and affirmative action are both struck down by the Supreme Court, it could send an ominous signal to millions of Americans that conservatives critics have succeeded in erecting more roadblocks to racial equality in America.Â
Here's a look at what affirmative action is — and isn’t — as well as what its effects are, and why, among others, the military has supported it for decades.
Here's a look at what affirmative action is — and isn’t — as well as what its effects are, and why, among others, the military has supported it for decades.
Colleges would have to scrap preferences for legacy applicants and student athletes to improve racial diversity if the U.S. Supreme Court ends affirmative action in admissions, even if they consider other factors such as class, a new study found.
