Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action

2014 United States Supreme Court case

Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued October 15, 2013
Decided April 22, 2014
Full case name| Schuette, Attorney General of Michigan v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration and Immigration Rights and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) et al.
Docket no.| 12-682
Citations| 572 U.S. 291 (more)

134 S. Ct. 1623; 188 L. Ed. 2d 613

Argument| Oral argument
Case history
Prior| 539 F. Supp. 2d 924 (E.D. Mich. 2008); 539 F. Supp. 2d 960 (E.D. Mich. 2008); 592 F. Supp. 2d 948 (E.D. Mich. 2008); 652 F.3d 607 (6th Cir. 2011); 701 F.3d 466 (6th Cir. 2012); cert. granted, 568 U.S. 1249 (2013).
Holding
Michigan's Proposal 2, banning race-based affirmative action in state universities, does not violate the Equal Protection Clause.
Court membership

Chief Justice
John Roberts
Associate Justices
Antonin Scalia * Anthony Kennedy
Clarence Thomas * Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Stephen Breyer * Samuel Alito
Sonia Sotomayor * Elena Kagan
Case opinions
Plurality| Kennedy, joined by Roberts, Alito
Concurrence| Roberts
Concurrence| Scalia (in judgment), joined by Thomas
Concurrence| Breyer (in judgment)
Dissent| Sotomayor, joined by Ginsburg
Kagan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, 572 U.S. 291 (2014), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning affirmative action and race- and sex-based discrimination in public university admissions. In a 6-2 decision, the Court held that the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause does not prevent states from enacting bans on affirmative action in education.

The case arose after Michigan voters approved the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, which amended the state constitution to make affirmative action illegal in public employment and public education. In a plurality opinion joined by two other justices, Justice Anthony Kennedy held that the ban on affirmative action was constitutional. Kennedy wrote that "[t]here is no authority in the Constitution of the United States or in this Court's precedents for the Judiciary to set aside Michigan laws that commit this policy determination to the voters." Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Stephen Breyer concurred in the result but filed or joined separate opinions. In her dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that the voters of Michigan had "changed the basic rules of the political process in that State in a manner that uniquely disadvantaged racial minorities."

## Background[edit]

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy issued an executive order establishing the concept of affirmative action and mandating that federally financed projects ensure that their hiring and employment practices are free of racial bias. With the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin was prohibited.

In the first case involving affirmative action in higher education, the Supreme Court ruled in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978) that the UC Davis medical school admissions program violated the Fourteenth Amendment with the institution of quotas for underrepresented minorities. It did not, however, eliminate race as a factor in university admissions, calling diversity a "compelling interest".

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Hopwood v. Texas (5th Cir. 1996) that the University of Texas School of Law could not use race as a factor in admissions. This was the first successful legal challenge to racial preferences since Bakke.

Two cases in 2003 involving the University of Michigan found that the university's policy of granting extra points to minorities for undergraduate admissions was unconstitutional (Gratz v. Bollinger) but that a program which gave holistic consideration for being a certain racial minority, though not an automatic boost, in admissions to the law school was constitutional (Grutter v. Bollinger).

Michigan voters approved Proposal 2 in 2006 which amended the state's constitution to make affirmative action illegal in public employment, public education or public contracting purposes, except for actions mandated by federal law or that are necessary in order for an institution to receive federal funding.[1]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled in 2012 that the ban was unconstitutional.[2][3]

## Supreme Court[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (April 2014)

|

The Court heard oral argument on October 15, 2013. John J. Bursch, then the Michigan Solicitor General, argued for the petitioner, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. Mark D. Rosenbaum argued for the Cantrell respondents, and Shanta Driver argued for the Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action. Justice Elena Kagan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.[4]

### Opinion and concurrences[edit]

On April 22, 2014, the Court ruled for the petitioner that the ban on affirmative action in the Michigan Constitution is constitutional. Justice Kennedy, writing the plurality opinion, wrote that "[t]here is no authority in the Constitution of the United States or in this Court's precedents for the Judiciary to set aside Michigan laws that commit this policy determination to the voters."[5] Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito joined in the plurality.[6]

Chief Justice Roberts also filed a concurring opinion, arguing that the dissent contains a paradox: the governing board banning affirmative action is an exercise of policymaking authority, but others who reach that conclusion (presumed to mean the supporters of Proposal 2) do not take race seriously. He continues that racial preferences may actually do more harm than good, as they reinforce doubt about whether or not minorities belong.[citation needed]

Justice Scalia filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, joined by Justice Thomas. He examines what he calls a "frighteningly bizarre question": Whether the Equal Protection Clause forbids what its text requires. He answers this by quoting his concurrence/dissent in Grutter: that "the Constitution [forbids] government discrimination on the basis of race, and state-provided education is no exception." He asserts that the people of Michigan adopted that understanding of the clause as their fundamental law, and that by adopting it, "they did not simultaneously offend it."[7]

Justice Breyer filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, arguing that the case has nothing to do with reordering the political process, nor moving decision-making power from one level to another, but rather that university boards delegated admissions-related authority to unelected faculty and administration. He further argues that the same principle which supports the right of the people or their representatives to adopt affirmative action policies for the sake of inclusion also gives them the right to vote not to do so, as Michigan did.[8]

### Dissent[edit]

Justice Sotomayor filed a dissent, joined by Justice Ginsburg, outlining what she called the nation's "long and lamentable record of stymieing the right of racial minorities to participate in the political process." She charges that "[a] majority of the Michigan electorate changed the basic rules of the political process in that State in a manner that uniquely disadvantaged racial minorities." Sotomayor contended that those opposed to affirmative action policies could have either lobbied the boards of the state's universities to change their policies or, through the electoral process, changed the membership of the boards. She invokes the political-process doctrine, recognized in Hunter v. Erickson (1969) and Washington v. Seattle School District (1982), whereby "[w]hen the majority reconfigures the political process in a manner that burdens only a racial minority, that alteration triggers strict judicial scrutiny." Sotomayor had previously credited her own admission to college to affirmative action, stating "I am the perfect affirmative action baby", and that without affirmative action "it would have been highly questionable if I would have been accepted."[9] In the dissent, Sotomayor notably paraphrased Chief Justice John Roberts's majority opinion in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, writing that "The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination."[10]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Mich. Const., Art. I, sec. 26
2. ^ Lewin, Tamar (November 15, 2012). "Affirmative Action Ban in Michigan Is Rejected". The New York Times. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
3. ^ Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, et al. v. Regents of the University of Michigan, et al. (6th Cir. 2012)
4. ^ Bensur, Gabriella (October 15, 2013). "Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action". Cornell University Law School. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
5. ^ Denniston, Lyle (April 22, 2014). "Opinion analysis: Affirmative action — up to the voters". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
6. ^ Howe, Amy (April 23, 2014). "Divided Court upholds Michigan's ban on affirmative action: In Plain English". SCOTUSblog. Retrieved April 23, 2014.
7. ^ Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, 572 U.S. ___ (2014)
8. ^ "Schuette v. Coal. Defend Affirmative Action, Integration & Immigration Rights, 572 U.S. ___ (2014)". Justia Law. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
9. ^ Mears, Bill (June 11, 2009). "Sotomayor says she was 'perfect affirmative action baby'". CNN. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
10. ^ "Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, 572 U.S. 291 (2014)". Justia Law. Retrieved January 17, 2023.

## External links[edit]

* Text of Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, 572 U.S. 291 (2014) is available from: Justia Oyez (oral argument audio) Supreme Court (slip opinion) (archived)

* v
* t
* e

Affirmative action in the United States

Supreme Court and
lower court decisions|

| Education|

* DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974)
* Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
* United States v. Fordice (1992)
* Hopwood v. Texas (5th Cir. 1996)
* Texas v. Lesage (1999)
* Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
* Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
* Doe v. Kamehameha Schools/Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate (9th Cir. 2006)
* Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007)
* Fisher v. University of Texas I (2013)
* Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014)
* Fisher v. University of Texas II (2016)
* Coalition for TJ v. Fairfax County School Board (4th Cir. 2023)
* Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (2023)

|

Employment|

* Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971)
* Morton v. Mancari (1974)
* Schlesinger v. Ballard (1975)
* Hazelwood School District v. United States (1977)
* United Steelworkers v. Weber (1979)
* Firefighters v. Stotts (1984)
* Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education (1986)
* Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC (1986)
* Firefighters v. City of Cleveland (1986)
* United States v. Paradise (1987)
* Johnson v. Transportation Agency (1987)
* Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio (1989)
* Piscataway School Board v. Taxman (3d Cir. 1996)
* Ricci v. DeStefano (2009)
* Charlton-Perkins v. University of Cincinnati (6th Cir. 2022)

Grants,
Contracting,
and Set-Asides|

* Kahn v. Shevin (1974)
* Califano v. Webster (1977)
* Fullilove v. Klutznick (1980)
* City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. (1989)
* Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. FCC (1990)
* Lamprecht v. FCC (D.C. Cir. 1992)
* Northeastern Fla. Chapter, Associated Gen. Contractors of America v. City of Jacksonville (1993)
* Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña (1995)
* Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Slater (2000)
* Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Mineta (2001)
* Vitolo v. Guzman (6th Cir. 2021)

Federal legislation
and edicts|

* Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
* Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868)
* Executive Order 10925 (1961)
* Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
* Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
* Executive Order 11246 (1965)

State initiatives|

* Proposition 209 (CA, 1996)
* Initiative 200 (WA, 1998)
* Proposal 2 (MI, 2006)
* Amendment 46 (CO, 2008, failed)
* Initiative 424 (NE, 2008)
* Proposition 107 (AZ, 2010)
* State Question 759 (OK, 2012)
* Referendum 88 (WA, 2019, failed)
* Proposition 16 (CA, 2020, failed)

People|

* Peter Arcidiacono
* Edward Blum
* Carl Cohen
* Ward Connerly
* Arthur Fletcher
* Richard Kahlenberg
* Richard Sander

* v
* t
* e

United States Fourteenth Amendment case law

Citizenship Clause

* Slaughter-House Cases (1873)
* Minor v. Happersett (1875)
* Elk v. Wilkins (1884)
* United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)
* Perez v. Brownell (1958)
* Afroyim v. Rusk (1967)
* Rogers v. Bellei (1971)
* Saenz v. Roe (1999)

Due Process Clause

| Economic substantive
due process|

* Mugler v. Kansas (1887)
* Allgeyer v. Louisiana (1897)
* Holden v. Hardy (1898)
* Lochner v. New York (1905)
* Muller v. Oregon (1908)
* Coppage v. Kansas (1915)
* Buchanan v. Warley (1917)
* Adams v. Tanner (1917)
* O'Gorman & Young, Inc. v. Hartford Fire Insurance Co. (1931)
* West Coast Hotel Co. v. Parrish (1937)

|

Right to privacy|

* Meyer v. Nebraska (1923)
* Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
* Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
* Roe v. Wade (1973)
* Doe v. Bolton (1973)
* Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
* Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
* Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
* Lawrence v. Texas (2003)
* Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt (2016)
* Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022)

Right to abortion|

* United States v. Vuitch (1971)
* Roe v. Wade (1973)
* Doe v. Bolton (1973)
* Planned Parenthood of Central Missouri v. Danforth (1976)
* Bellotti v. Baird I (1976)
* Colautti v. Franklin (1979)
* Bellotti v. Baird II (1979)
* H. L. v. Matheson (1981)
* City of Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health (1983)
* Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (1986)
* Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
* Hodgson v. Minnesota (1990)
* Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health (1990)
* Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
* Leavitt v. Jane L. (1996)
* Lambert v. Wicklund (1997)
* Mazurek v. Armstrong (1997)
* Stenberg v. Carhart (2000)
* Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England (2006)
* Gonzales v. Carhart (2007)
* Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt (2016)
* Azar v. Garza (2018)
* Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. (2019)
* June Medical Services, LLC v. Russo (2020)
* Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (2022)

Civil rights liability
under Section 1983|

* Monroe v. Pape (1961)
* McNeese v. Board of Education (1963)
* Pierson v. Ray (1967)
* Jenkins v. McKeithen (1969)
* Scheuer v. Rhodes (1974)
* Wood v. Strickland (1975)
* O'Connor v. Donaldson (1975)
* Paul v. Davis (1976)
* Imbler v. Pachtman (1976)
* Monell v. Department of Social Services of the City of New York (1978)
* Procunier v. Navarette (1978)
* Owen v. City of Independence (1980)
* Harlow v. Fitzgerald (1982)
* Felder v. Casey (1988)
* Will v. Michigan Department of State Police (1989)
* Gonzaga University v. Doe (2002)
* Inyo County v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community (2003)
* City of Rancho Palos Verdes v. Abrams (2005)
* Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Committee (2009)
* Ashcroft v. Iqbal (2009)
* Los Angeles County v. Humphries (2010)
* Connick v. Thompson (2011)

Other|

* Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905)
* Zucht v. King (1922)
* Buck v. Bell (1927)
* Powell v. Alabama (1932)
* Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co. (1950)
* NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
* Hoyt v. Florida (1961)
* Oyler v. Boles (1962)
* Loving v. Virginia (1967)
* Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
* In re Winship (1971)
* Cleveland Board of Education v. LaFleur (1974)
* Arnett v. Kennedy (1974)
* Taylor v. Louisiana (1975)
* Goss v. Lopez (1975)
* Mathews v. Eldridge (1976)
* Moore v. City of East Cleveland (1977)
* Duren v. Missouri (1979)
* Parham v. J.R. (1979)
* Parratt v. Taylor (1981)
* Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co. (1982)
* Kolender v. Lawson (1983)
* Hudson v. Palmer (1984)
* Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill (1985)
* Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
* Turner v. Safley (1987)
* DeShaney v. Winnebago County (1989)
* Michael H. v. Gerald D. (1989)
* Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health (1990)
* Washington v. Glucksberg (1997)
* Troxel v. Granville (2000)
* Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co. (2009)
* Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
* Williams v. Pennsylvania (2016)

Equal Protection Clause

| Race|

* Pace v. Alabama (1883)
* Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)
* Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
* Cumming v. Richmond County Board of Education (1899)
* Lum v. Rice (1927)
* Smith v. Texas (1940)
* Hirabayashi v. United States (1943)
* Korematsu v. United States (1944)
* Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma (1948)
* Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)
* Perez v. Sharp (Cal. 1948)
* Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
* McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950)
* Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
* Briggs v. Elliott
* Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County
* Gebhart v. Belton
* Lucy v. Adams (1955)
* Browder v. Gayle (M.D. Ala. 1956)
* Anderson v. Martin (1964)
* Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward County (1964)
* McLaughlin v. Florida (1964)
* Reitman v. Mulkey (1967)
* Loving v. Virginia (1967)
* Lee v. Washington (1968)
* Green v. County School Board of New Kent County (1968)
* Hunter v. Erickson (1969)
* Hadnott v. Amos (1969)
* United States v. Montgomery County Board of Education (1969)
* Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969)
* Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)
* McDaniel v. Barresi (1971)
* Palmer v. Thompson (1971)
* Coit v. Green (1971)
* Guey Heung Lee v. Johnson (1971)
* Jefferson v. Hackney (1972)
* Keyes v. School District No. 1, Denver (1973)
* Norwood v. Harrison (1973)
* Milliken v. Bradley (1974)
* Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. (1977)
* Dayton Bd. of Ed. v. Brinkman (1977)
* Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
* Washington v. Seattle School Dist. No. 1 (1982)
* Crawford v. Los Angeles Board of Education (1982)
* Palmore v. Sidoti (1984)
* Hunter v. Underwood (1985)
* Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education (1986)
* City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co. (1989)
* Board of Education of Oklahoma City v. Dowell (1991)
* Freeman v. Pitts (1992)
* United States v. Fordice (1992)
* Northeastern Fla. Chapter, Associated Gen. Contractors of America v. Jacksonville (1993)
* Missouri v. Jenkins (1995)
* Texas v. Lesage (1999)
* Gratz v. Bollinger (2003)
* Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
* Johnson v. California (2005)
* Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007)
* Fisher v. University of Texas I (2013)
* Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (2014)
* Fisher v. University of Texas II (2016)
* Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College (2023)

|

Sex|

* Breedlove v. Suttles (1937)
* Goesaert v. Cleary (1948)
* Reed v. Reed (1971)
* Moritz v. Commissioner (1972)
* Kahn v. Shevin (1974)
* Geduldig v. Aiello (1974)
* Stanton v. Stanton (1975)
* Edwards v. Healy (1975)
* Craig v. Boren (1976)
* Orr v. Orr (1979)
* Parham v. Hughes (1979)
* Caban v. Mohammed (1979)
* Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney (1979)
* Wengler v. Druggists Mut. Ins. Co. (1980)
* Kirchberg v. Feenstra (1981)
* Michael M. v. Superior Court of Sonoma County (1981)
* Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan (1982)
* Lehr v. Robertson (1983)
* J.E.B. v. Alabama ex rel. T.B. (1994)
* United States v. Virginia (1996)

Sexual orientation|

* Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
* Romer v. Evans (1996)
* Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)

Alienage|

* Patsone v. Pennsylvania (1914)
* Truax v. Raich (1915)
* Heim v. McCall (1915)
* Crane v. New York (1915)
* Terrace v. Thompson (1923)
* Porterfield v. Webb (1923)
* Webb v. O'Brien (1923)
* Frick v. Webb (1923)
* Ohio ex rel. Clark v. Deckebach (1927)
* Takahashi v. Fish and Game Comm'n (1948)
* Hernandez v. Texas (1954)
* Graham v. Richardson (1971)
* Sugarman v. Dougall (1973)
* In re Griffiths (1973)
* Examining Board v. Flores de Otero (1976)
* Nyquist v. Mauclet (1977)
* Foley v. Connelie (1978)
* Ambach v. Norwick (1979)
* Cabell v. Chavez-Salido (1982)
* Plyler v. Doe (1982)
* Bernal v. Fainter (1984)

Residency|

* Shapiro v. Thompson (1969)
* Arlington County Board v. Richards (1977)
* Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Ward (1985)

Other|

* United States v. Cruikshank (1876)
* Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. (1886)
* Quaker City Cab Co. v. Commonwealth (1928)
* Breedlove v. Suttles (1937)
* Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942)
* Oyama v. California (1948)
* Oyler v. Boles (1962)
* Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966)
* Rinaldi v. Yeager (1966)
* Levy v. Louisiana (1968)
* Williams v. Rhodes (1968)
* Oregon v. Mitchell (1970)
* Boddie v. Connecticut (1971)
* Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972)
* Lehnhausen v. Lake Shore Auto Parts Co. (1973)
* San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (1973)
* Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas (1974)
* Massachusetts Board of Retirement v. Murgia (1976)
* Trimble v. Gordon (1977)
* Zablocki v. Redhail (1978)
* New York City Transit Authority v. Beazer (1979)
* Mills v. Habluetzel (1982)
* City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. (1985)
* Clark v. Jeter (1988)
* Kadrmas v. Dickinson Public Schools (1988)
* Gregory v. Ashcroft (1991)
* Vacco v. Quill (1997)
* Bush v. Gore (2000)
* Armour v. Indianapolis (2012)

Enforcement Clause

* Civil Rights Cases (1883)
* Katzenbach v. Morgan (1966)
* Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer (1976)
* Dellmuth v. Muth (1989)
* City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
* Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank (1999)
* Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents (2000)
* United States v. Morrison (2000)
* Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama v. Garrett (2001)
* Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs (2003)
* Tennessee v. Lane (2004)
* United States v. Georgia (2006)
* Shelby County v. Holder (2013)

Other

* Gold Clause Cases (1935)
* Richardson v. Ramirez (1974)

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