Texas v. Hopwood

No. 95-1773

Decided July 1, 1996

[U.S. Reports citation not yet available]

ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES

COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT



The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied. GINSBURG, J., separate

opinion



Opinion of JUSTICE GINSBURG, with whom JUSTICE SOUTER joins, respecting

the denial of the petition for a writ of certiorari.



Whether it is constitutional for a public college or graduate school to

use race or national origin as a factor in its admissions process is an

issue of great national importance.  The petition before us, however,

does not challenge the lower courts' judgments that the particular

admissions procedure used by the University of Texas Law School in 1992

was unconstitutional.  Acknowledging that the 1992 admissions program

"has long since been discontinued, and will not be reinstated," Pet. for

Cert. 28, the petitioners do not defend that program in this Court, see

Reply to Brief in Opposition 1, 3; see also Brief for United States as

Amicus Curiae 14, n. 13 ("We agree that the 1992 [admissions] policy was

constitutionally flawed. . . . ").  Instead, petitioners challenge the

rationale relied on by the Court of Appeals.  "[T]his Court," however,

"reviews judgments, not opinions."  Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural

Resources Defense Council, Inc., 467 U.S. 837, 842 (1984) (footnote

omitted).  Accordingly, we must await a final judgment on a program

genuinely in controversy before addressing the important question raised

in this petition.  See Reply to Brief in Opposition 2 ("[A]ll concede

this record is inadequate to assess definitively" the constitutionality

of the law school's current consideration of race in its admissions

process.).

