Argument #1
The Court should rule in favor of Jennifer Grutter. Because race is a factor in
this case, any remedies must pass the strict scrutiny test. The admissions
procedure of the Law School must be narrowly tailored in supporting a compelling
government interest of diversity. The Law School's program does not pass this
test. The critical mass argument of the Law School is a sham since the School
offers no reason for the disparities among the numbers of admitted students
within each group. Rather than striving for a critical mass of students from a
specific racial group, the statistics show that the admissions decisions were
based on the number of applicants of that specific group. This is therefore the
equivalent to a quota system which is unconstitutional.
Argument #2
In Bakke the Supreme Court ruled that race-based affirmative action programs
were constitutional if they were intended to promote diversity and there were no
quotas or set-asides. The University of Michigan's Law School admissions fits
all the criteria for a permissible program. Race is considered as a plus factor
(not as a deciding factor) in the context of individualized consideration of
each applicant. The admissions process uses race as only one element in a range
of factors. Therefore the Law School's admissions procedure which seeks to
create a critical mass of under-represented minority students is constitutional.