From the “Concurring Opinions” blog: Professor Sherrilyn Ifill on Fisher v. University of Texas: Still litigation without minority representation

Prof. Sherrilyn Ifill of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law was one of the experts featured in AFJ’s 2011 Documentary, A Question of Integrity: Politics, Ethics and the Supreme Court.  A nationally-recognized expert on civil rights litigation, she analyzed the affirmative action case argued before the Supreme Court yesterday for the Concurring Opinions Blog.  She focuses on a group with a huge stake in the outcome that was left out of the case:

Prof. Ifill

Since the Bakke v. California case, higher education affirmative action cases have largely been litigated between white applicants who claim they were excluded from university admissions as a result of affirmative action, and historically white universities who have in the last 30 years sought to diversify their student bodies.  Minority students, whose interests are deeply affected by the litigation in these cases, are often relegated to the sidelines.

Read the full post at Concurring Opinions

Here’s how Adam Serwer of Mother Jones described oral argument in the case:

Three white lawyers argued before a mostly white Supreme Court on Wednesday about whether the University of Texas-Austin's admissions process—designed to diversify its student body—discriminated against a white applicant.

Read his full story here

See also:
A recap of the oral argument from SCOTUSblog

It's all one more reminder of why judges matter, and how much difference a single vote can make on the Supreme Court.