Arguing that affirmative action admissions programs violate both Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Center for Individual Freedom filed an amicus brief on January 16 urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the racial and ethnic preferences used by the University of Michigan's undergraduate and law schools in their admissions.

Prior to reaching the Supreme Court, two lower federal courts upheld the University's affirmative action programs.� Those courts found that the University could properly consider race and ethnicity in making admissions decisions to further a "compelling interest" in achieving diverse student bodies.� The Center's brief presents the Court with why an interest in simple racial and ethnic diversity is not constitutionally compelling and only frustrates the fundamental purpose of equal protection.� In addition, the Center's brief questions whether the University may give substantial preferences to certain races and ethnicities without crossing the constitutional line into discriminating against other applicants.

For background information on Grutter v. Bollinger, No. 02-241, and Gratz v. Bollinger, No. 02-516, click here.

To download a copy of the Center's brief, click here.