United States Eleventh Circuit

A school admissions policy that mechanically awards an arbitrary "diversity" bonus to each and every non-white applicant at a decisive stage in the admissions process, and severely limits the range of other factors relevant to diversity that may be considered at that stage, fails strict scrutiny and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Appellate Information

• Decided 08/27/2001
• Published 08/27/2001

Judges

• MARCUS, Circuit Judge:, Before BIRCH, MARCUS and WOOD , Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Eleventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• A. Lee Parks, Jr., John W. Bellflower, Parks, Chesin & Miller, P.C., Atlanta, GA, Kevin V. Parsons, Parks, Chesin & Miller, P.C., Charlotte, NC, for Plaintiffs., Teresa Kwong, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae U.S., Leslie M. Gross, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae Southern Regional Council., Patricia A. Brannan, Hogan & Hartson, Washington, DC, for Amicus Curiae American Council on Educ., Anthony T. Caso, Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento, CA, for Amicus Curiae, Pacific Legal Foundation., Harry W. MacDougald, Atlanta, GA, Mark L. Gross, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, Stephen R. McCutcheon, Jr., Pacific Legal Foundation, Sacramento, CA, for Amicus Curiae, Southeastern Legal Foundation.


• For Appellees:
  
• Dennis R. Dunn,Georgia Dept. of Law, Atlanta, GA, Janell M. Byrd, NAACP Legal Defense & Educ. Fund, Inc., Washington, DC, Elise C. Boddie, Theodore Michael Shaw, Dennis Parker, NAACP Legal Defense & Educ. Fund, Inc., New York City, Mark H. Cohen, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants.