Justices hear arguments over affirmative action in Harvard, UNC Supreme Court cases

The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Monday in two cases dealing with race-based university admissions practices at Harvard and University of North Carolina.

At issue in both cases is whether the Court should overrule its precedent in 2003’s Grutter v. Bollinger, which said that colleges and universities can consider race in order to have a diverse student body. The Court decided to hear the cases separately, as UNC is a public school and Harvard is private, so legal issues are not totally identical. In the UNC case, which is being argued first, the Court will also consider whether the school acted properly in rejecting a race-neutral alternative. In the Harvard case, they will look at whether the school violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by penalizing Asian-Americans with their policies. Ronn Blitzer is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics and breaking news. 

"Racial classifications are wrong. That principle was enshrined in our law, at great cost, following the Civil War," attorney Patrick Strawbridge said at the beginning of his argument against UNC on behalf of the student group.