An Exploratory Analysis of Affirmative Action in Admission Processes

This paper looks at the current case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin in conjunction with previous affirmative action cases. I question what the Court’s decision for the Fisher case will be and what this means for future affirmative action policies in higher education. I pose the question: Is affirmative action still needed today? I use court documents from the current Fisher case and literature on previous cases to help answer this question. I discussed the Court Justices upbringing and how these will affect their decisions in this case. I examined previous affirmative action cases that some of the Justices worked on and what their decisions were. I considered these decisions along with interviews from journalists and opinions to arrive at my final conclusions. I contend that with an absent liberal Justice and strong voices of opposition against affirmative action by other Justices, the future of affirmative action policies existence is not certain