YLS Professor Drew Days III, Other Scholars Release Statement on Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling

The Civil Rights Project released a statement from a leading group of constitutional law scholars Tuesday offering an independent assessment of the ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas, which was announced earlier this week by the U.S. Supreme Court.

 The group of scholars includes Drew Days III, the Alfred M. Rankin Professor Emeritus of Law at Yale Law School, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow ’79, and Professor Rachel Moran ’81. Days joined the faculty at Yale Law School in 1981, and has focused his teaching and writing in the fields of civil procedure, federal jurisdiction, Supreme Court practice, antidiscrimination law, comparative constitutional law, and international human rights. He served as U.S. Solicitor General under the Clinton Administration.

The statement hails the reaffirmation of the precedents of the last 35 years supporting affirmative action, and concludes that there is no reason for colleges and universities to abandon their programs. It also advises universities to provide ongoing documentation of their admissions programs and that their consideration of race is carried out to the degree necessary to achieve diversity.

The Civil Rights Project’s mission is to create a new generation of research in social science and law, on the issues of civil rights and equal opportunity for racial and ethnic groups in the United States.

The statement reads in part, “The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin reaffirms thirty-five years of precedent upholding the compelling interest in educational diversity in higher education, and clarifies the legal standards that the courts and educational institutions must follow to comply with the Constitution. Consistent with the Court’s previous rulings in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke and Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court has upheld the value of diversity in promoting important educational benefits, in addressing racial isolation and stereotypes, and in preparing students for leadership in a diverse society. At the same time, the Court has reinforced its earlier rulings that university admissions policies must be narrowly tailored and necessary to advance the compelling interest in diversity.”

Read the full statement here.