Argue that the quahog system violates

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Reference no: EM133291236

Facts of the Case

The Quahog School District allowed students to apply to any high school in the District. Since certain schools often became oversubscribed when too many students chose them as their first choice, the District used a system of tiebreakers to decide which students would be admitted to the popular schools. The second most important tiebreaker was a racial factor intended to maintain racial diversity. If the racial demographics of any school's student body deviated by more than a predetermined number of percentage points from those of Quahog's total student population (approximately 40% white and 60% non-white), the racial tiebreaker went into effect. At a particular school either whites or non-whites could be favored for admission depending on which race would bring the racial balance closer to the goal.

A non-profit group, Parents Against Bussing Schoolchildren Totally (PABST), sued the District, arguing that the racial tiebreaker violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Rhode Island state law. A federal District Court dismissed the suit, upholding the tiebreaker. On appeal, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit reversed, holding the tiebreaker was unconstitutional (that it violated the Equal Protection Clause).

Under the Supreme Court's precedents on racial classification in higher education (college and graduate school), Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (undergraduate admissions), race-based classifications must be directed toward a "compelling government interest" and must be "narrowly tailored" to that interest. Applying these precedents to K-12 education, the First Circuit Court found that the tiebreaker scheme was not narrowly tailored. The District then petitioned for an "en banc" ruling by a panel of First Circuit judges. The en banc panel came to the opposite conclusion and upheld the tiebreaker. The majority ruled that the District had a compelling interest in maintaining racial diversity. Applying a test from Grutter, the Circuit Court also ruled that the tiebreaker plan was narrowly tailored, because 1) the District did not employ quotas, 2) the District had considered race-neutral alternatives, 3) the plan caused no undue harm to races, and 4) the plan had an ending point.

Problem:

Students assigned Role #1: You represent PABST. Argue that the Quahog system violates the Equal Protection Clause by improperly considering race in high school admissions. Support your argument based on the rulings in Bakke and Grutter.

Students assigned Role #2: You represent the Quahog School District. Argue that the Quahog system does not violation the Equal Protection Clause. Support your argument based on the rulings in Bakke and Grutter.

Reference no: EM133291236

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