Dive Brief:

• The Supreme Court is examining whether Michigan’s voters violated the Constitution by banning race-conscious admissions at public universities.
• The five more conservative justices seemed inclined to uphold the ballot measure.
• If the court strikes down the Michigan measure, its ruling could also invalidate bans in California, Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Washington.

Dive Insight:

A little bit of background: The Michigan ballot measure came about as a response to a Supreme Court decision from 2003 that allowed race as one factor to be considered in admissions. The Michigan ballot measure was approved in 2006 by 58% of  voters. California has banned race-conscious admissions at its public universities since 1996.