A federal choose upheld the Naval Academy’s race-conscious admissions coverage on Friday, rejecting a problem from the group that succeeded on the Supreme Courtroom in gutting affirmative motion at civilian increased schooling establishments.
That Supreme Courtroom resolution didn’t apply to the nation’s navy academies, so College students for Truthful Admissions’ (SFFA) newest lawsuit sought to increase it to the academy, which is positioned in Annapolis, Md.
“In this case, SFFA has challenged any consideration of race by the Naval Academy in its admissions process,” U.S. Senior District Decide Richard Bennett wrote in his 175-page ruling.
“After an intense one-year period of discovery and a nine-day bench trial, this Court has found that the Academy’s admissions program withstands the strict scrutiny mandated by the Harvard case,” Bennett continued, referring to the latest Supreme Courtroom resolution.
SFFA sued the Naval Academy in October 2023, a number of months after the Supreme Courtroom successfully ended race-conscious admissions insurance policies at civilian schools and universities nationwide by ruling they don’t adjust to the 14th Modification’s assure of equal safety.
Bennett’s ruling sides with the federal authorities’s argument that navy academies, in contrast to civilian universities, have a “compelling national security interest in a diverse officer corps.”
“Specifically, the Academy has tied its use of race to the realization of an officer corps that represents the country it protects and the people it leads. The Academy has proven that this national security interest is indeed measurable and that its admissions program is narrowly tailored to meet that interest,” wrote Bennett, an appointee of former President George W. Bush.
“Quite simply, this Court defers to the executive branch with respect to military personnel decisions,” he added.
Led by conservative authorized strategist Edward Blum, SFFA has recruited plaintiffs to file challenges towards faculties’ admissions insurance policies for years.
“This group is disenchanted by the Courtroom’s opinion. However simply as we did in our profitable lawsuits towards Harvard and the College of North Carolina, SFFA will attraction this to the appellate courtroom. If we’re unsuccessful there, then we are going to attraction to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom,” Blum mentioned in an announcement.
“It’s our hope that the U.S. navy academies finally can be compelled to comply with the Supreme Courtroom’s prohibition of race in school admissions,” he added.
The group has equally sued the U.S. Army Academy at West Level.
—Up to date at 10:32 a.m.
