Attorney General Bill Schuette filed a request with the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to re-examine an appeals court’s override of a statewide ban on using affirmative action in university admissions.
On Nov. 15, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati overturned the 2006 Michigan Civil Rights Initiative, or MCRI — which banned affirmative action in the use of university admissions — on the grounds that it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
Schuette asserted the court illegitimately reversed a decision that 58 percent of Michiganians supported in 2006, and requested the Supreme Court consider whether the MCRI violates the equal protection clause by prohibiting preferential treatment at universities.
He argued the appeals court’s decision “turns the democratic process on its head.”
“More than 2 million Michigan voters have now been disenfranchised of their choice to eliminate considerations of race in education,” Schuette said in the request.
University administrators were hesitant to discuss the potential implications for MSU after the 6th Circuit Court’s decision, saying they will continue to review how the decision could affect MSU admissions.
MSU currently does not use affirmative action in admissions decisions.
University spokesman Kent Cassella previously said MSU also will monitor a pending U.S. Supreme Court affirmative action case in which a white woman denied admission from the University of Texas in 2008 sued the school, decrying the university’s requirement of specifying an applicant’s race.
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