Case against UW law school declined in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court Tuesday declined to hear an appeal of a ruling in favor of the UW School of Law using race as a factor in admissions.

The original decision was made by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after three white applicants sued the law school in 1997 because they were turned down for admittance.

Katuria Smith, Angela Rock and Michael Pyle, represented by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Individual Rights (CIR), argued the law school deans acted unconstitutionally when using race as a primary consideration for admissions.

The law school defended, saying the admissions policy was designed according to the landmark 1979 Supreme Court Bakke ruling.

In the '79 ruling, Justice Lewis Powell offered an opinion that was not joined by any other justices. He said race could be used as one of many factors to achieve diversity in the school.

"Powell's opinion is not the law because other justices didn't join," said Curt Levey of the Center for Individual Rights.

Levey added that four other justices issued opinions saying racial preferences could not be used unless to "remedy societal prejudices."

The case was never settled when it was in the Western Washington District Court because it went through an interlocutory appeal, or an appeal before the judge handed down any final decision. The plaintiffs requested the appeal.

It then reached the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where the court ruled in favor of the law school in February of 1999.

"The circuit court said that Bakke is still good law, permitting race as a consideration for admissions," said Roland Hjorth, the dean of the School of Law and a defendant in the case.

The plaintiffs then filed a writ of certiorari to the high court. The court's rejection sends the case back to the district court, where a trial hearing will take place. It is unclear why the justices rejected the hearing, and it is rare for them to explain their reasons.

Levey thinks the Supreme Court might have been reluctant to hear the case because it went through an interlocutory appeal. Thus, the case lacked factual records and final conclusions.

Richard Kummert, associate dean of the law school, disagrees. The Supreme Court might actually be more inclined to hear the case because the only decision the high court has to make would be whether the Bakke ruling still stands.

The decision of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is at odds with a decision handed down in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1996, the court ruled in favor of four white students who sued the University of Texas, claiming the school exercised reverse discrimination. The ruling led to an injunction banning universities from using race as a factor in admission policies.

The outcome of the UW case will have less effect on future admission policies, since they are governed by Washington's Initiative 200.

"But there are many states in the 9th Circuit not governed by the initiative," Hjorth said. Thus, if either the Supreme Court or the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals later rules in favor of the plaintiffs, it would alter the admissions policies of public universities in other states in the 9th circuit, such as California and Oregon.

Levey said that while the minority population of Washington state hovered around 15 percent from the early to mid 1990s, the percentage of minority students admitted ranged from 32 to 35 percent.

However, Levey claimed this number is not by chance. He claims the law school designed its admissions policy to admit a student body consisting of around 35 percent minorities. Kummert denies that.

"Nobody has ever established that we have targets," Kummert said. "Nor did we."

Kummert attributes the high number of minorities to Asian Americans, who are over-represented because they are independently qualified. Other minority groups haven't been a large share in the minority entering class. The number of blacks and Hispanics applying to the law school is much smaller than the number of Asian Americans. This year, for example, only one entering student was black, out of a class of 163.

"Blacks are underrepresented, but we are held to quality considerations," Kummert said, citing only 26 black applicants for the 2000-2001 school year. "Hispanics are underrepresented as well."

In 1994, when Smith applied, every black applicant with a GPA of 2.5 to 3.25 and LSAT score of 155 to 159 was admitted, Levey said. None of the 131 white applicants in that category were admitted.

Kummert did not say these statistics were false. However, he said a race-blind admissions policy would make the number of minorities applying dramatically decrease because the UW cannot afford to give underprivileged minorities attractive scholarship and grant packages.

"The consequences of the initiative is that we lose many good applicants of color because other school give scholarships and would better accommodate minorities," Kummert said. "Our average grant is only about $1,300 to $1,400, and the rest are loans."

Levey said the plaintiffs will argue that they were damaged by the law school. Smith, who is a lawyer in New York City, enrolled in Seattle University's law school. Rock went to Georgetown University's law school and practices in Las Vegas. Both had to pay the extra cost of a private university instead of the tuition of the UW, Levey said. Pyle currently works as an engineer in Seattle.

"Generally, the victims of racial preferences are white," Levey said. "These days, minorities are beneficiaries, not victims."