Top US court agrees to hear affirmative action challenge

WASHINGTON

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear challenges to two college admissions policies that take into consideration an applicant's race.

The practice of what is known as affirmative action has historically been used to help minorities, in particular Black and Latino students, during college admission processes. But the high court's decision to hear challenges to policies at Harvard University, and the University of North Carolina could imperil it.

The challenges allege that affirmative action imperils the chances of Asian-American applicants, and the Supreme Court has decided to hear them jointly. Both were brought by a conservative group known as the Students for Fair Admissions, an anti-affirmative action group.

The group has asked the top court to overturn the landmark 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinge, which upheld affirmative action. The ruling maintained affirmative action does not, in and of itself, violate the US Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law.

The case is likely to be heard in the Supreme Court's October session with a ruling to follow the following summer.