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Constitutional Law Keyed to Farber
Fisher v. University of Texas
Citation:
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, 579 U.S. ___, 136 S. Ct. 2198, 195 L.Ed.2d 511 (2016)Facts
In 1997, the Texas legislature enacted a law requiring the University of Texas to admit all high school seniors who ranked in the top ten percent of their high school classes. After the policy was in place, the university found there was a gap between the racial and ethnic makeup of the university population and the state’s population. The University of Texas modified its race-neutral admissions policy and, while it continued to admit all in-state students who graduated in the top ten percent of their high school classes, for the remainder of the incoming class from in-state, the university would consider race as a factor in admission.
Abigail N. Fisher, a whit applicant, was not in the top ten percent of her class, so she competed for admission with other non-top ten percent in-state applicants. The University of Texas denied Fisher’s application. Fisher filed suit against the university a, claiming that the University of Texas’ use of race as a consideration in admission decisions was in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
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