In October, the Supreme Court held several hours of oral argument in the Students for Fair Admissions case, challenging the constitutionality of affirmative action preferences for African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina.
The questions covered a wide range of issues, including, I believe for the first time, significant questions from the Justices about coherence of the classifications used by the universities.
The key issue in the cases is whether these classifications can be used by the universities to ensure racial diversity. The phrase "racial diversity" came up in oral argument thirty-eight times, with Justices Kagan and Sotomayor in particular pressing counsel on the issue.
