Press Statement  AG Healey Reacts to Today’s Supreme Court Decisions

Boston — Today, Attorney General Maura Healey released the following statements reacting to the decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court in United States v. Texas and Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin et al.

UNITED STATES V. TEXAS

AG Healey issued the following statement in response to a Supreme Court decision on President Obama’s executive orders on immigration:

“We are disappointed in today’s outcome. President Obama’s executive orders were an important step towards fixing a broken immigration system, and had the potential to help thousands of children and families here in Massachusetts and across the country. Immigration continues to be an issue that Congress fails to lead on, and these orders were a strong action to help families and fix our deeply flawed immigration system. It is time for Congress to finally debate and pass long overdue comprehensive immigration reform. The Court did not issue a precedent-setting decision today. Instead, the previous judgment was affirmed by an equally divided court. We urge the Senate to act promptly to consider a nominee to fill the vacancy on the United States Supreme Court.”

BACKGROUND

Last year, the AG’s Office, along with attorneys general from 13 states and the District of Columbia, signed onto an amicus brief in support of President Obama's executive actions, urging an appeals court to lift a preliminary injunction filed by a federal court judge in Texas that has blocked President Obama’s executive actions on immigration reform.

In this case, the lower court’s ruling was affirmed by an equally divided court.

FISHER V. UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN ET AL

AG Healey released the following statement applauding the U.S. Supreme Court for issuing a decision in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin et al. that allows public colleges and universities the flexibility to design admissions policies that take race into account as one of many relevant factors:

“Today’s decision recognizes that diversity is vital in our public colleges and universities and that consideration of race is itself an important and allowable factor in accepting and enrolling students. To address the persistent racial disparities that exist in our society, we need every tool at our disposal. Diverse student bodies at these public institutions better prepare all of our residents to compete and lead in our modern global economy and multicultural society, which is ultimately critical to the economic security of our nation.”

BACKGROUND

In November 2015, AG Healey led the filing of a multistate amicus brief highlighting the fact that public higher education plays an important role in providing economic and social opportunity for young adults, and that public colleges and universities educate approximately 75 percent of all undergraduates in the country. The brief also argues that states must be able to ensure diversity in their student bodies because it best prepares graduates to work in our multicultural society.

The amicus brief was submitted in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin et al. The case arose out of a constitutional challenge to the University of Texas at Austin’s consideration of race as part of its undergraduate admissions process. The Supreme Court previously heard this case during the October 2012 term, but remanded the case to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals for further consideration. In 2012, the AG’s Office joined a multi-state brief supporting the University of Texas’s admissions policy. 

In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that the University’s admissions program was narrowly tailored to achieve diversity and that there was no proof that any race-neutral alternatives were available and adequate to achieve that goal.