Supreme Court Delays Whether To Review Harvard Anti-Asian Discrimination Case, Seeks Biden Admin Position

WILLIAM A. JACOBSON JUN 14, 2021 10:02 AM

One of the most awaiting Supreme Court determinations is not even in a case under review, it’s whether the court will accept for review the Harvard Anti-Asian Discrimination Case.

In that case, which the students lost at both the trial court and appeals court levels, Asian-American applicants allege that Harvard discriminates against them through manipulation of soft factors, and minimizing standardized testing as an admission tool. We covered the case since inception:

• Complaint Says Harvard Discriminates Against Asian-Americans (2015)
• New Harvard President Rejects Claims of Discrimination Against Asian-Americans (2018)
• Federal Judge Sides With Harvard in Discrimination Case Brought by Asian Applicants (2019)
• Trump administration sides with Asian American students in discrimination suit against Harvard (2020)
• Appeals Court upholds Harvard’s discrimination against Asian-Americans (2020)
• Supreme Court Asked To Hear Harvard Anti-Asian Discrimination Case (2021)

SCOTUS was expected to rule today whether to grant the Petition for Writ of Certiorari (i.e. for review), but instead issued an Order “inviting” the Biden Solicitor General to weigh in. The Trump administration sided with the Asian-American students, but the court wants to know the Biden administration position before it decides whether to take the case:

20-1199  STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS V. PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARDThe Acting Solicitor General is invited to file a brief in this case expressing the views of the United States.

It’s hard to know what this means, other than that the case is not on a fast track. There was no timeframe put on when the Biden Acting Solicitor General needs to file a brief.

Various commenters have different takes on what it means.

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