Expert Panels Lay Out Legal Framework for Michigan Case
Washington
A panel of legal scholars and social science experts that have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of maintaining the University of Michigan’s affirmative action programs laid out the legal framework for allowing the continuation of race-conscious programs to reporters at a press briefing in Washington late last month.
Christopher Edley of Harvard’s Civil Rights Project, and a professor at Harvard Law School, said the Court will consider whether Michigan’s stated purpose of promoting diversity serves a compelling government interest and if it is narrowly tailored to serve that interest. To be narrowly tailored, he said, it must not be a rigid quota, must consider race as one of several factors, must be reviewed from time to time and must be shown to be the least-burdensome way to achieve the compelling government interest.