re: #192 Joanne

It was vacated and remanded, but the petitioners weren’t asking to overrule Grutter, so Scalia joined with the majority 7-1; Kagan recused.

Strict scrutiny does not permit a court to accept a
school’s assertion that its admissions process uses race in a permissible way without closely examining how the process works in practice,
yet that is what the District Court and Fifth Circuit did here. The
Court vacates the Fifth Circuit’s judgment. But fairness to the litigants and the courts that heard the case requires that it be remanded
so that the admissions process can be considered and judged under a
correct analysis. In determining whether summary judgment in the
University’s favor was appropriate, the Fifth Circuit must assess
whether the University has offered sufficient evidence to prove that
its admissions program is narrowly tailored to obtain the educational
benefits of diversity.

The takeaway here is that the Fifth Circuit applied the wrong standard to the case; the Fifth will have to take up the issue again using the standard as the SCt. indicated.

Not quite a punt, but it leaves Grutter intact for the moment.