Supreme Court accepts second case on race-based college admissions - The Washington Post: The Supreme Court decided Monday to dive deeper into the issue of affirmative action in university admissions, agreeing to review a lower court’s decision to overturn Michigan’s voter-approved initiative banning the use of race in college acceptance decisions.
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit struck down the ban, approved by 58 percent of the state’s voters in 2006. It is similar to bans in several other states, including California and Florida.
The high court accepted Michigan’s appeal of the 6th Circuit opinion and will hear the case in the term that begins in October. The case will be heard by just eight justices; the court noted that Justice Elena Kagan recused herself.
The court earlier this term considered a challenge to the admissions process at the University of Texas, which considers race as one factor in choosing part of its freshman class. The justices heard oral arguments in that case in October and has not issued a decision.
Some had thought the court might hold the Michigan case until it rendered the Texas ruling, but the cases offer different issues.
