I've now had a chance to review the oral argument in the Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina. I started to review the Harvard case, but didn't get a chance to finish it yet. My immediate impression to the UNC case: every Justice came to the argument with their minds made up. I don't think such predetermination was surprising. But I was struck at how settled the Chief Justice, as well as Justices Kavanaugh and Barrett were. I expected each of them to express some discomfort with what the Plaintiffs were asking for. But I sensed none. To be sure, Kavanaugh in particular had already figured out his limiting principles–more on that later. But the lawyers had very little room to sway the Court's swing votes. Since there was very little interchanges on the bench, this post will review the positions of each justice.
