From The Detroit Free Press:
Michigan’s ban on racial preferences in public university admissions and government hiring was in court again Tuesday, another step closer to its assumed destination: the doorstep of the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I don’t see how they would give up, and we’re not either,” said George Washington, an attorney representing those fighting the ban.
Michael Rosman, attorney for the Washington-based Center for Individual Rights which has argued to keep the ban in place, agreed. Any decision by the three-judge panel that heard oral arguments Tuesday can be appealed to the full 6th Circuit Court, in Cincinnati, or to the nation’s highest court. It would be up to those panels to decide whether they’d hear the case.
At issue is the decision by Michigan voters in 2006 to make illegal policies like those at the University of Michigan, where officials could consider race in admissions decisions.
For years, U-M had argued that the policy helped build a diverse student body. In fact, the percentages of African-American freshmen and law school students have since dropped among its freshman classes and law school students. Wayne State University medical school also has seen a dip in its numbers of African-American students.
RELATED STORIES
Many Whites Filing Reverse Discrimination Lawsuits
Reverse Discrimination Case Could Transform Hiring
