Federal Judge Upholds Race-Based US Naval Academy Admissions

In a blow to the prestige of the U.S. Naval Academy, a federal judge on Thursday ruled against an injunction that would have temporarily put the brakes on race-based admissions at the institution.

The lawsuit was brought by Students for Fair Admission (SFFA), which won a pair of landmark cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. After a favorable June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, the group filed suit in September against the military academy.

But U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett ruled that discrimination in student admissions is not actually discrimination.

He declared that the plaintiffs did not prove that using race as a qualifying factor unfairly affected those not of the favored group. Interestingly, Bennett said his decision was not based on the merits of the case. Rather, he noted there have “always been racial tensions in the military.”

Politico reported he said “this case will stop dead under the water.”

Judge Bennett expressed what could be described as hostility toward the plaintiff’s arguments. While he called this year’s high court ruling in the Harvard and UNC cases “transformational,” he claimed it was “not an absolute cookie cutter.”

Department of Justice attorney Joshua Gardner told the hearing that the military is justified in considering the race of Annapolis students. He said the military branch must develop a diverse generation of officers to lead a diverse fighting force.

Bennett said he will produce his written ruling within a week and fast track the schedule toward a trial. He noted that the case could reach the Supreme Court as did its predecessor involving Harvard and UNC.

The Supreme Court invalidated discriminatory admissions policies for those two institutions in a historic decision. The ruling did not address similar practices at military academies, and Chief Justice John Roberts said these have “potentially distinct interests.”

SFFA, founded by affirmative action opponent Edward Blum, argued that basing admissions to the Naval Academy on race violated applicants’ Fifth Amendment equal protection rights.

A lawyer for the plaintiffs, Cameron Norris, indicated that an appeal may be coming.