Problem
SCOTUS Comparison
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled on a case involving a white student, Abig Fisher, who was denied undergraduate admission to the University of Texas The University of Texas accepts all in-state students who graduate in the upper 10 percent of their class, but for the remainder of the admissions, the university considers race as one factor among many in an effort to reflect the diversity of the population. Fisher was not in the upper 10 percent of her class, and when she was denied admission, she sued the school on the grounds that her constitutional rights were violated because the university used race to consider applicants. The district and circuit courts affirmed the university's policy, so she appealed to the Supreme Court.
In Fisher v. University of Texas (2013), the Court found that the circuit court had not exercised strict scrutiny and remanded the case back to the circuit court. In 2015, the Supreme Court heard the case again (Fisher v. University of Texas II, 2016) after the lower court, applying strict scrutiny, once again sided with the university. This time the Court upheld the right of the university to use race as one factor in considering admission under strict judicial scrutiny.
1. Identify the constitutional provision that is common to both Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and Fisher v. University of Texas II (2016).
2. Based on the constitutional provision identified in part A, explain why the facts of the case in Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and Fisher v. University of Texas II (2016) led to different rulings by the Supreme Court.
3. Explain how the ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas II relates to the principle of equality of opportunity.