Military Academies Exempt From SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ban

• The Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in a 6-3 decision on Thursday.
• But the court exempted military academies from the decision, citing “potentially distinct interests.”
• Justice Sotomayor noted the exemption in her dissent, arguing “highlights the arbitrariness” of the decision.

In a 6-3 decision issued on Thursday, the United States Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in college admission, preventing higher educational institutions from considering race in admissions decisions.

But there’s one key exception: the nation’s military academies.

In a footnote to the majority opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court made clear that the sweeping decision will not be applied to military academies, noting those institutions were not involved in the two cases brought before the Court.

“None of the courts below addressed the propriety of race-based admissions systems in that context,” reads the footnote on page 30 of the decision. “This opinion also does not address the issue, in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.”

That exemption was noted in liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent on the decision, which argued that it undermines the conservative majority’s argument and “highlights the arbitrariness” of the decision.

“The majority does not dispute that some uses of race are constitutionally permissible,” Sotomayor wrote. “Indeed, it agrees that a limited use of race is permissible in some college admissions programs.”

She noted that “national security interests are also implicated at civilian universities” and pointed out that the court’s decision will nonetheless apply to plenty of higher education institutions that weren’t party to the case.

“The Court’s carveout only highlights the arbitrariness of its decision and further proves that the Fourteenth Amendment does not categorically prohibit the use of race in college admissions,” she wrote.

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