Hopwood v. Texas
Hopwood v. Texas was a case ruled upon by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 1996. The appeals court held that the University of Texas School of Law could not use race as a factor in determining which applicants to admit to the university. This decision was later invalidated by the United States Supreme Court in Grutter v. Bollinger.[1][2]
Background
In 1992, Cheryl J. Hopwood, a white female, applied for admission to the University of Texas School of Law, and was rejected. Hopwood, along with three white males, sued the university, arguing their LSAT scores and GPAs were better than those of the majority of the black and Hispanic students admitted. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas found in favor of the university, determining they could continue to use racial preferences as part of their admission decisions. In the court's opinion, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote that, "until society sufficiently overcomes the effects of its lengthy history of pervasive racism, affirmative action is a necessity."[3]
Decision
The plaintiffs appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which overturned the previous court's decision, in 1996. The court held that "the University of Texas School of Law may not use race as a factor in deciding which applicants to admit in order to achieve a diverse student body, to combat the perceived effects of a hostile environment at the law school, to alleviate the law school’s poor reputation in the minority community, or to eliminate any present effects of past discrimination by actors other than the law school."[1]
The university appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, which declined to review the case. The decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit thus became the law in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, the states over which the appeals court has jurisdiction.[4]
Later developments
In 1997, William P. Hobby, Jr., former Lieutenant Governor of Texas and then Chancellor of the University of Houston System, sought clarification from the Texas attorney general on the decision, questioning how it affected financial aid in higher education in Texas. The attorney general responded that it would apply to all institutional policies, and so consideration of race was not permitted in any area.[5]
Grutter v. Bollinger
- See also: Grutter v. Bollinger
In 2003, the Supreme Court invalidated the Hopwood decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, which found that the United States Constitution did not prevent the use of race as a factor in admissions. In a 5-4 decision, the court upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the majority opinion, which held that the United States Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body."[2]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Justia.com, "78 F.3d 932 (5th Cir. 1996)," accessed July 7, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 law.cornell.edu, "GRUTTER V. BOLLINGER," accessed July 7, 2015
- ↑ Justia.com, "Hopwood v. State of Tex., 861 F. Supp. 551 (W.D. Tex. 1994)," accessed July 7, 2015
- ↑ law.cornell.edu, "Texas v. Hopwood, 518 U.S. 1033 (1996)," accessed July 7, 2015
- ↑ Office of the Texas Attorney General, "Morales Letter Opinion No. 97-001," accessed July 7, 2015