Chinanews, June 15th. According to a comprehensive report by the US Chinese website, the US Supreme Court on Monday (14th) asked the Biden administration to issue an opinion on whether it should hear the Harvard University admissions discrimination case.
CNN stated that this is equivalent to "postponing the decision on whether to accept the case for several months."
If the case is finally accepted, it means that the conservative majority of the Supreme Court may end affirmative action aimed at increasing the number of African and Hispanic students on American campuses.
The Supreme Court's action on Monday (14th) indicated that at least some of the nine justices are interested in hearing a lawsuit brought by the "Students for Fair Admissions" (Students for Fair Admissions) against Harvard's admissions policy.
In this lawsuit filed in 2014, the Fair Admissions Student Organization accused Harvard University of discriminating against Asian applicants when enrolling students, violating Article 6 of the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits any project receiving federal financial aid. Or discriminate on the basis of race, color or nationality in the event.
In November last year, the Federal Court of Appeals ruled that Harvard University did not violate the federal civil rights law and upheld a 2019 district court ruling.
Fair Admissions Student Organization Chairman Edward Blum said in a statement that regardless of the views of the Deputy Attorney General, his organization “still hopes that the justices will approve the trial of our case and end the admissions based on the Race affirmative policy".
Harvard University declined to comment.
Over the past few decades, the affirmative policy has withstood the review of the Supreme Court, including a ruling made by the Chief Justice in 2016.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by a white girl, Abigail Fisher, against the University of Texas, alleging that the university’s admissions policy is suspected of discrimination.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court stated that the consideration of the ethnicity of students when enrolled by the University of Texas did not violate the Constitution, but the scope of the ruling was restricted.
As one of the most prestigious top universities in the world, Harvard University has stated that if the affirmative policy is abolished, the number of African and Hispanic students will be reduced by nearly half.
Harvard University lawyers stated that the university "only considers race issues in a flexible and non-mechanical way" and does not automatically favor certain ethnic groups when deciding which students to admit.
The Supreme Court did not set a deadline for the Biden government to respond. If the case is finally accepted, this means that in addition to abortion and gun issues, the Supreme Court will add another major case during the 2021-2022 trial.