Law school wins federal case

Both plaintiffs, three white law school applicants, and the defendant, the UW School of Law, were caught by surprise when Judge Thomas Zilly of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a high-profile reverse-discrimination case.

Zilly found in favor of the UW.

Both Michael Rosman, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, and Mike Madden, counsel for the UW, said earlier this week they had no indication as to when Zilly would hand down his decision.

The ruling states the UW School of Law did not illegally discriminate against three white applicants, Katuria Smith, Angela Rock and Michael Pyle, when it denied them admission in the mid-'90s.

As a result, the plaintiffs will not receive any damages.

Earlier court rulings had favored the UW. And one year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court's decision upholding the use of race as a factor in admission to a public law school.

The School of Law used race as a factor in deciding admissions until voters passed Initiative 200 in 1998, which ended state-sponsored affirmative action for women and minorities.

Other circuit courts have ruled recently -- some like Zilly and others opposite his decision.

Most recently, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that the University of Michigan may consider an applicant's race when making admissions decisions.

In 1996, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Dallas, ruled the opposite way with regard to university admissions policies.