The Supreme Court granted review in three cases today, but Fisher v. University of Texas — in which the use of racial and ethnic preferences in undergraduate admissions is challenged — was not among them. That’s not good news, but it’s possible that the justices are just mulling it over (the Court announced no denials today; we have to hope that Fisher is not on that list, likely to be released on Tuesday).
If there were a plethora of cases like Fisher out there, this wouldn’t be such a big deal, but there isn’t. For obvious reasons, it is hard to find students willing to be plaintiffs and lawyers willing to bring the inevitably long, complicated, and unremunerative actions on their behalf. And so we have the odd situation where there is widespread discrimination but few lawsuits; indeed, I’m not aware of any besides Fisher that are out there, nor any that have been brought since the Court’s University of Michigan decisions in 2003. So keep your fingers crossed this Martin Luther King Day weekend.