On Tuesday, the US Supreme Court upheld an admissions policy at an elite Virginia public high school, after the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled in favor of the practice. Plaintiffs in the case argued the school’s policy discriminated against Asian Americans, but the justices mostly disagreed.
Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented the majority decision. Alito criticized the Fourth Circuit’s ruling, saying the decision was based on a “flagrantly wrong” theory, and expressed concern over its potential spreading effect.
In May 2023, the Fourth Circuit ruled that the school policy did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution. The court clarified that the policy did not discriminate on the basis of race and did not have a disparate impact on Asian American students. As these conditions were not met, the ruling was made based on rational basis review instead of strict scrutiny, the latter implying a more stringent examination for constitutional compatibility.
The heart of this lawsuit is the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJ) in Virginia, widely recognized as one of the top high schools nationwide. In the fall of 2020, TJ implemented a “holistic” admission scheme, aiming to address the school’s noted diversity issues. The revamped policy assured 1.5 percent of the seats for students from each feeder middle school, subject to meeting other academic prerequisites.
Following the adoption of the new policy, TJ saw an uptick in the representation of Hispanic and Black student demographics, from 1 plan to 11 percent and 5 percent to 7 percent, respectively.
The US Supreme Court’s ruling comes as the latest in a series of court decisions affecting admissions policies across the country. In June 2023, affirmative action practices of considering race in college admissions were effectively ended by a Supreme Court ruling, leading to subsequent litigation over similar issues in other educational institutions, including the US Military Academy at West Point.
Full coverage at JURIST – News.