Supreme Court Divides Along Ideological Lines in Landmark Ruling on Race-Conscious Admissions Programs

The Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on Thursday, ruling that race-conscious admission programs at two colleges were unconstitutional. The 6-3 ruling, with all six conservative justices in the majority, was met with fiery rebuttals from the three liberal justices.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, arguing that affirmative action violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause. He also renewed his argument that the use of race in holistic admissions leads to the ‘inevitable’ ‘underperformance’ by Black and Latino students at elite universities.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the primary dissent, joined by Justice Elena Kagan. She took particular aim at Justice Clarence Thomas, calling out his argument that the 14th Amendment was intended to protect only the rights of Black Americans. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also penned a separate dissent, joined by Kagan.

The Supreme Court’s ideological divisions were on full display in Thursday’s ruling. The justices often snipe at each other through footnotes and parentheticals, but the level of aggression in Thursday’s decision was unusual.

The ruling has been met with criticism from civil rights groups, who argue that race-conscious admissions policies are necessary to ensure that students of color have equal access to higher education. The decision is likely to have far-reaching implications for universities across the country.