At Balkinization, David Gans: Scholars’ Brief in Fisher v. University of Texas Urges New Look at Text and History of the Fourteenth Amendment. It begins:
On Monday, Constitutional Accountability Center filed an amici curiae brief in the Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas, urging the Court to reaffirm that the Fourteenth Amendment permits the sensitive use of race to foster equality in education and to uphold the University of Texas’s use of race as one factor among many in its holistic admissions policy. Our brief, filed on behalf of CAC and six of the nation’s most prominent constitutional scholars—Bruce Ackerman, Jack Balkin, Burt Neuborne, James Ryan, Eric Schnapper, and Adam Winkler—demonstrates that the text and history of the Fourteenth Amendment permit the government to take race into account in certain circumstances in order to ensure equality of opportunity for all persons regardless of race.
Posted at 6:55 AM