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Michigan affirmative action, ban to face appeal

September 12, 2011

Almost as soon as it was resurrected affirmative action might soon be buried for good in Michigan.

On Friday, Attorney General Bill Schuette announced the U.S. Court of Appeals decided to revisit the ruling and might deem the ban legal after all, a development that creates an uncertain future for Michigan’s arguably most contentious piece of education policy.

The original ruling, which came in July from a three-judge panel in U.S. 6th District Court, made the state’s ban on affirmative action illegal on the grounds it violates the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution. Proposal 2 won on a near-landslide in 2006 with 58 percent of voters favoring the ban.

The discussion comes as MSU’s application season is beginning to heat up.

The university already has received more than 2,000 applicants, officials from MSU’s Office of Admission said, creating an uncertain future for how minorities will be affected in MSU’s admission process.

For now, the university is keeping its policies steadfast. MSU plans to wait until the court makes a ruling to change any of its policies, university spokesman Kent Cassella said.

“We’re aware of the attorney general’s request for review, and we will wait for that review process to conclude before we make any broad policy decisions regarding the court’s opinion and how it might impact the university,” Cassella said.

The ruling likely won’t be reviewed until early next year, according to a statement from the attorney general.

The ban on affirmative action still stands for the time being as there is no ruling that labels it as unconstitutional, said Robert Sedler, a professor at Wayne State University who specializes in constitutional law.

“At the moment, there is no decision saying Prop 2 is unconstitutional,” Sedler said.

The case will be reviewed by a panel of 16 judges, which Sedler said is a relatively rare occurrence, as only one or two cases a year are granted a second hearing of this size. He said this signals the court holds the case in high esteem, and the judges recognize the decision has the potential to affect a large number of people.

Alyssa Burns, a member of African American Celebratory, a student group which promotes academic success in MSU’s black community, said affirmative action is beneficial for students in most instances.

“I think affirmative action is a good thing, and it gives people better opportunities,” Burns said. “To an extent, it does create a problem, but it’s not MSU’s problem.”

Schuette championed the court’s decision to revisit the case and potentially declare affirmative action unconstitutional as a victory for equality in Michigan.

“The court made the right decision, and we look forward to making the case for equality, fairness and the rule of law,” Schuette said in a statement Friday. “It is absurd to say a ban on racial discrimination, which Proposal 2 enshrined in our constitution, somehow perpetuates racial discrimination.”

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