Equal Protection Clause
Abigail Noel Fisher is a white female who applied as an undergraduate at University of Texas in 2008. Fisher blamed the affirmative action program and sued the university for race discrimination. Her reason was not sufficient enough to be approved in court. Fisher’s grades were not good enough, she had explained that she was not accepted when people of a different race were but that 's not the case. “ If you want enterance to UT Austin and you live in Texas, you have three options: you can score in the top ten percent of your high school class, which grants you an automatic entry; you can try for the non-top ten slots or, if your grades are weak, …show more content…
In the Constitution, The Fourteenth Amendment states the many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens. In this case the phrase “equal protection of laws” was used. The Fourteenth Amendment, section 1, says, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws” (Constitution). Since the constitution does say this we shall abide but Judge Patrick Higginbotham once said, “Universities may use race as a part of holistic admissions program where it cannot otherwise achieve diversity”. Disagreeing with Abigail N. Fisher, University of Texas only used race so their school can “achieve the rich diversity that contributes to their academic program” (Koppel, N). There is nothing in the constitution saying, the University of Texas cannot use race in their application to make their school more diverse. The University of Texas is widening the …show more content…
The federal government enforces this protection on the states, ensuring that they do not. Remember that the Bill of Rights protects some rights for Americans. The equal protection clause extended this protection to the state governments. This clause of the 14th amendment would later be used to end discrimination and segregation in the South” (Constitution). The Fourteenth Amendment ensures that it is illegal for a state to violate your rights by making a law against them. Also the state can not do anything unless they go through the due process of law. The Constitution clearly says, “no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. “Within its jurisdiction” means within the power of the court or law.
The University of Texas does not violate Fishers rights. Even the court told her to review her arguments, “In 2013, the Court ruled narrowly on the case, requiring the federal appeals court that had ruled against the woman, Abigail Fisher, to re-examine her arguments” (Hannah-Jones, N). Fishers case is nonsensical. It 's only ridiculous to assume that being denied because she white but really it 's because she didn 't have good enough grades. This case is the perfect example of what happens when you don’t get your way especially when you are