Supreme Court upholds power of states to ban affirmative action

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in the college admissions process.

In a 6-2 ruling, the justices said Michigan voters had the right to change their state’s constitution to prohibit public colleges and universities from considering race.

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the plurality opinion in the case, Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, and was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito.

Kennedy said the justices determined they do not have the authority to override the will of Michigan voters when it comes to affirmative action.

In earlier cases, the high court ruled states can consider race in college admissions if they choose.

The justices' ruling reverses a lower court ruling that struck down the affirmative action ban. Michigan voters had approved that ban by a 58 percent-42 percent margin in November 2006.

Affirmative action opponents helped work on Michigan’s ban, after the Supreme Court first ruled 10 years ago that the University of Michigan couldn’t include race in a points system for undergraduate admissions. But the court then ruled the university’s law school could consider race in their admissions decisions.

According to USA Today, seven other states have similar bans on affirmative action including Arizona, California, Florida, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington.

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