Reversed Protection: A Discrimination Claim Gone Wild in Fisher v. Texas

Abstract

This Article sets forth admissions data by race, calculations of selection rates, and racial disparate impact analysis for the admissions cycle challenged in Fisher v. Texas and finds a disparity between the white selection rate and the African American and Latino selection rates large enough to constitute evidence of Title VI disparate impact discrimination against African Americans and Latinos. It also presents neglected factual details about UT’s race-conscious holistic review process and critiques the Court’s use of strict scrutiny in reviewing UT’s admissions policy as the application of doctrinal rules that have improperly reversed the protection conferred by the Equal Protection Clause by pointing to the current doctrine’s failure to require reverse discrimination claimants to demonstrate the race-conscious policy they challenge has a demonstrable “reverse discriminatory” effect.

Keywords: Equal Protection, Constitutional Law, Fourteenth Amendment, Holistic Review, Racial Disparity, College Admissions, Affirmative Action, Fisher v. Texas, Race, Selection Rates, Disparate Impact, Race-Consciousness, Reverse Discrimination

JEL Classification: K10, K30