The conservative-dominated Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the consideration of race in college admissions, adding another blockbuster case to a term with abortion, guns, religion and COVID-19 already on the agenda.
The court said Monday it would take up lawsuits claiming that Harvard, a private institution, and the University of North Carolina, a state school, discriminate against Asian American applicants. A decision against the schools could mean the end of affirmative action in college admissions.
According to CNN, the high court will hear arguments in the case in the session that begins in October, and a ruling would likely be issued in June 2023.
Lower courts rejected the challenges, citing more than 40 years of high court rulings that allow colleges and universities to consider race in admissions decisions. But the colleges and universities must do so in a narrowly tailored way to promote diversity.
According to NBC News, the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld affirmative action in education in the last dozen or so years. However, those rulings relied heavily on the opinions of two liberal justices, Anthony Kennedy and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. They've since been replaced by two conservative-leaning justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, who are more likely to rule against the practice.
