Supreme Court lets West Point continue considering race as part of admissions

The Supreme Court said Friday that the United States Military Academy at West Point can continue considering race as a factor in its admissions process while a legal challenge to the practice plays out.

The decision is a temporary blow to the anti-affirmative action group Students for Fair Admissions, or SFFA, whose lawsuits against Harvard and the University of North Carolina led the Supreme Court last year to declare race-based admissions policies unlawful – except at US military service academies.

The court said in a brief order that the record in the case “is underdeveloped” and that its decision “should not be construed as expressing any view on the merits of the constitutional question.”

The carveout in last year’s rulings led SFFA to sue West Point and the US Naval Academy in 2023, alleging in two separate lawsuits that the military academies’ use of race in their admissions processes is unconstitutional. Lower courts have declined to grant the group’s request to order the schools to stop the practice while the lawsuits play out.

Last week, SFFA asked the high court to step in on an emergency basis to block West Point from considering race in its admissions process as the litigation unfolds.

“For now, the only question is what should happen as this case proceeds – who should bear the burden of the status quo,” attorneys for SFFA told the Supreme Court. “Every year this case languishes in discovery, trial, or appeals, West Point will label and sort thousands more applicants based on their skin color – including the class of 2028, which West Point will start choosing in earnest once the application deadline closes on January 31.

“Should these young Americans bear the burden of West Point’s unchecked racial discrimination? Or should West Point bear…