Decision of the Court

On June 23, 2003 the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the University of Michigans Law school affirmitive action program. The vote was decided 5-4. Judge Sandra Day O’Connor had the deciding vote. She said that unfortunately affirmative action is still necessary but "We expect that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." (http://www.npr.org/news/specials/michigan/) The Court decided that as long as race wasn’t the deciding factor in a students admissions it was ok as long as it’s purpose is to create a “diverse class”. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/future/landmark_grutter.html)

The Court used precedent from a previous case Regents of University of California v. Bakke. In 1978 this case was also decided 5-4 and ruled that a state may constitutionally consider race as a factor in its admissions to promote diversity, but only if race is considered alongside other factors and on a case-by-case basis. The Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to use a quota system based on race, but a school's use of affirmative action to accept more minority applicants was constitutional in some circumstances.

In Grutter v. Bollinger, the Supreme Court backed up Bakke's basic approach and ruled that University of Michigan Law School's policy of giving significant but non-determinative weight to its applicants' race was "neutral" enough, and Michigan's interest in a diverse student body was "compelling" enough, to meet constitutionally standards of equality. (http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_regents.html)