As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares for oral arguments this
week in the Fisher v. University of Texas case, many are starting to get
curious: why exactly all the hype? Since the 2003 SCOTUS decision, Grutter v. Bollinger, the University of
Texas has been using race as a factor in the admissions process. The problem
with this, the petitioner argues, is that diversity is already considered and
adjusted for via the state’s unique Top 10 Percent Law, and therefore the
race-conscious admissions violate her right to equal protection under the
Fourteenth Amendment. If Grutter is
overturned by the Fisher case, then affirmative action in higher education will
be greatly affected.
Because of this potential impact, I thought I would take
this time to mention a few resources to get up to speed as the chatter increases in anticipation for the oral arguments set for Wednesday, October 10, 2012:
The first is a great new library guide that I had the
pleasure of contributing to during a recent internship at the Tarlton Law
Library at the University of Texas at Austin. This guide includes the key
docket entries from each stage of the case, beginning with the Western District
of Texas through the U.S. Supreme Court. You will also find links and PDFs of
selected scholarly publications and news articles discussing both background
and in depth elements of the case. There are also links to the text of this Top
10 Percent Law.
As always, the SCOTUSblog is a great website to consult on
upcoming cases. The blog has some great coverage and also includes links to
important court documents.
The Gallagher Law Library also maintains a couple of books that
may be of interest:
- Patricia Marin & Catherine L. Hor, Realizing Bakke's Legacy: Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity, and Access to Higher Education (2008).
- Timothy R. Johnson & Jerry Goldman, A Good Quarrel: America's Top Legal Reporters Share Stories from Inside the Supreme Court (2009) (for a fun read about Grutter).
I hope you enjoy the insight!
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