FILED: Two Briefs in Supreme Court Affirmative Action Cases

Devon WesthillEducation

Dear friends,

I am pleased to report to you that CEO has once again assisted in crafting and joined a Supreme Court amicus brief filed by our friends at the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). As a former civil rights government official, I also joined a brief filed by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ). The briefs can be viewed by following the links provided in the “Merits-Stage Amicus Briefs” section below.

Both briefs support petitioners in the case of Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. Harvard/University of North Carolina in their challenge to the schools’ use of racial preferences in admissions. CEO has supported the PLF efforts at every stage of the Supreme Court litigation process in the hope that the Court ultimately overrules the 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger decision that sanctioned the use of race as a factor in college admissions for the purported educational benefits of diversity.

This latest PLF brief makes a compelling case that the evidence since Grutter was decided shows that the harms caused by racial preferences—including academic mismatch–greatly outweigh any educational benefits that may flow from a diverse student body. This evidence, in addition to the fact that Grutter was grievously wrong the day it was released, provides a special justification for the Court to overrule this nearly two-decade precedent that permits racial discrimination. We are proud of the CEO studies cited by PLF in these briefs to establish this critical justification and encourage your review of them by following the links provided below.

Additionally, the ACLJ brief makes the crucial argument that, at its best, America has always held of paramount importance the value of the individual over any fabricated racial categories. Indeed, the brief makes clear, American and world history is replete with examples of atrocities when government classifies citizens by race. And, ultimately, such classification is arbitrary, incoherent, and unworkable.

As an American with a multiracial and multiethnic family, I was especially pleased to assist in creating and joining the ACLJ brief. We must remember we are one human family and that we are much more alike than we are different. I believe we are more likely to recognize and to celebrate our vast similarities if we remove race and ethnicity as a factor in judging ourselves and each other in public and private life. That is the only path to harmonious coexistence. The Supreme Court has a great chance to move us in that direction by, once and for all, prohibiting race preferences in college admissions. These two fine briefs should help the Court make that easy legal and moral decision.

Warmest regards,

Devon

Merits-Stage Amicus Briefs

  1. PLF Brief
  2. ACLJ Brief

CEO Studies Cited in PLF Brief

  1. Campus Diversity and Student Discontent: The Cost of Race and Ethnic Preferences in College Admissions
  2. Too Many Asian Americans: Affirmative Discrimination in Elite College Admissions

Certiorari-Stage Briefs

  1. SFFA v. UNC
  2. SFFA v. Harvard

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