Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

E32808

United States Supreme Court case affirmative action case equal protection case

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that challenged the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions policies at public universities under the Equal Protection Clause.

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All labels observed (10)

Label	Occurrences
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin canonical	9
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2016)	2
Fisher v. Texas	1
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2013)	1
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (Fisher I)	1
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin litigation	1
The Fifth Circuit failed to apply the proper strict scrutiny standard to the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions program.	1
The Supreme Court later affirmed the University of Texas at Austin’s policy in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2016).	1
influenced later affirmative action cases such as Fisher v. University of Texas	1
upheld the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions policy	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T252695 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
Context triple: [NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, notableCase, Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin]

A. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke is a landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down rigid racial quotas in university admissions while upholding the constitutionality of using race as one factor among many to foster diversity.
B. McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents is a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down racial segregation within a public university’s graduate program, marking an important step toward the desegregation of higher education.
C. Sweatt v. Painter
Sweatt v. Painter was a landmark 1950 U.S. Supreme Court case that challenged racial segregation in higher education and helped lay the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education.
D. San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez is a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that education is not a fundamental right under the Constitution, upholding school funding systems based on local property taxes.
E. United States v. Virginia (1996) majority opinion
The United States v. Virginia (1996) majority opinion is a landmark Supreme Court decision, authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that struck down the Virginia Military Institute’s male-only admissions policy as unconstitutional sex discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
Target entity description: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that challenged the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions policies at public universities under the Equal Protection Clause.

A. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke is a landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down rigid racial quotas in university admissions while upholding the constitutionality of using race as one factor among many to foster diversity.
B. McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents is a 1950 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down racial segregation within a public university’s graduate program, marking an important step toward the desegregation of higher education.
C. Sweatt v. Painter
Sweatt v. Painter was a landmark 1950 U.S. Supreme Court case that challenged racial segregation in higher education and helped lay the groundwork for Brown v. Board of Education.
D. San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez is a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that education is not a fundamental right under the Constitution, upholding school funding systems based on local property taxes.
E. United States v. Virginia (1996) majority opinion
The United States v. Virginia (1996) majority opinion is a landmark Supreme Court decision, authored by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, that struck down the Virginia Military Institute’s male-only admissions policy as unconstitutional sex discrimination under the Equal Protection Clause.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ affirmative action case ⓘ equal protection case ⓘ
arguedDate	October 10, 2012 ⓘ
citation	133 S. Ct. 2411 ⓘ 186 L. Ed. 2d 474 ⓘ 570 U.S. 297 ⓘ
concurrenceBy	Antonin Scalia ⓘ Clarence Thomas ⓘ
constitutionalProvision	Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ linked to: Equal Protection Clause
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decidedDate	June 24, 2013 ⓘ
disposition	Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated and case remanded. ⓘ
dissentBy	Ruth Bader Ginsburg ⓘ
docketNumber	11-345 ⓘ
fullName	Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin ⓘ
holding	Courts must verify that a university’s use of race in admissions is narrowly tailored to obtain the educational benefits of diversity. ⓘ The Fifth Circuit did not apply the correct standard of strict scrutiny to the University of Texas at Austin’s use of race in undergraduate admissions. ⓘ
impact	clarified the application of strict scrutiny to race-conscious admissions policies at public universities. ⓘ
joinedByInMajority	Antonin Scalia ⓘ Clarence Thomas ⓘ Elena Kagan recused ⓘ John G. Roberts Jr. ⓘ Samuel A. Alito Jr. ⓘ Sonia Sotomayor ⓘ Stephen G. Breyer ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (on appeal) ⓘ linked to: United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
legalIssue	constitutionality of race-conscious undergraduate admissions policies at public universities ⓘ standard of judicial review for race-based affirmative action in higher education ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy	Anthony M. Kennedy ⓘ
originatingCourt	United States District Court for the Western District of Texas ⓘ
petitioner	Abigail Noel Fisher ⓘ
relatedCase	Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2016) ⓘ linked to: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin Gratz v. Bollinger ⓘ Grutter v. Bollinger ⓘ Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ
respondent	UT Austin Office of Admissions ⓘ linked to: University of Texas at Austin University of Texas at Austin ⓘ
shortName	Fisher I ⓘ Fisher v. Texas ⓘ linked to: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
standardOfReview	strict scrutiny ⓘ
subjectMatter	civil rights ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ public university admissions ⓘ
subsequentHistory	On remand, the Fifth Circuit again upheld the University of Texas at Austin’s admissions policy. ⓘ The Supreme Court later affirmed the University of Texas at Austin’s policy in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2016). ⓘ linked to: Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin
topic	affirmative action in higher education ⓘ race-conscious admissions policies ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (19)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund → notableCase → Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin ⓘ

subject linked to: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund represented plaintiffs

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke → subsequentCaseInfluenced → Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin ⓘ

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin → fullName → Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin ⓘ

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin → shortName → Fisher v. Texas ⓘ