The US Supreme Court [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] 4-3 Thursday in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin [SCOTUSblog materials] that the university’s race-conscious admissions program is lawful. Abigail Fisher brought suit against the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin), alleging that its race-conscious admission program violated the Equal Protection Clause [Cornell LII backgrounder] of the Fourteenth Amendment. Fisher was denied admission to UT Austin under their holistic review program, which reviews applicants based on, among many other factors, special circumstances such as socioeconomic background and race. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote for the majority, upholding the admissions policy that was in place at the time, but noting that the university should continue to review its practices:

The Court’s affirmance of the University’s admissions policy today does not necessarily mean the University may rely on that same policy without refinement. It is the University’s ongoing obligation to engage in constant deliberation and continued reflection regarding its admissions policies.

Justice Clarence Thomas filed a dissenting opinion. Justice Samuel Alito also filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and by Thomas. Justice Elena Kagan took no part in consideration of the case.

This is the second time this case has reached the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court had remanded the case [JURIST report] to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 2013 after finding that the court did not hold UT to the demanding burden of strict scrutiny articulated in Grutter v. Bollinger [opinion; JURIST symposium] and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke [opinion]. On remand, the Fifth Circuit found that UT’s affirmative action [JURIST backgrounder] policy was narrowly tailored to achieve the goal of diversity.