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    Post-SFFA v. Harvard/Affirmative Action Resource Page

    Affirmative Action, policies aimed at increasing educational and workplace opportunities for people who are underrepresented in various areas of our society, were created to address historical systems that have prevented the equal participation of certain communities, generally women and communities of color. The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard banning the consideration of race as a distinct factor in admissions has created questions around programs aimed at ameliorating past harms in the quest to promote equity in education and employment.

    U.S. Supreme Court Decision in SFFA v. Harvard

    Presidential Statements

    ABA Amicus Brief

    Resolutions

    • 402 - Endorses the Summary of Recommendations and Guidance from the Report and Recommendations of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Task Force on Advancing Diversity dated September 2023.
      Read NYSBA Report
          

    ABA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Center's Affirmative Action Path Forward Series

    This series of workshops was created to provide an avenue for meaningful discussion about the path forward for programs that seek to promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Each session is focused on distinct groups and the unique challenges they face post-decision. The goal of the series is to share information, facilitate discussion, and to provide concrete recommendations to sustain the ongoing quest toward a more equitable society for all.

    Learn more about the Path Forward Series

    Summary and Action Plan from February 5, 2024 Strategy Session

    On February 5, 2024, during the ABA Midyear Meeting, the ABA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Center hosted “Developing an Action Plan for Equity and Fairness.” The interactive discussion, facilitated by Past President Paulette Brown, focused on what has been an organized campaign to normalize inequity, including, for example, state actions limiting voting access, book and curriculum bans, attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and reproductive freedom, and efforts to expand the SFFA v. Harvard decision to justify the elimination of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in all sectors.

    Read Summary & Action Plan

    Related ABA Journal Articles

    Direct Policies

    • 95A127 - Supports legal remedies and voluntary actions that take into account race, national origin, or gender to eliminate or prevent discrimination or otherwise serve a compelling societal interest.
    • 90M100E - Urges judicial leaders to encourage and promote the full participation in the work forces of the court systems of all persons irrespective of race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age or handicap.
    • 95MY111 - Urges the President o the United States to appoint highly qualified lawyers of all minority groups who reflect the great diversity of our nation to all levels of the federal government.
    • 90A10G - Diversity in House Leadership
    • 16M116 - Urges public companies in the United States to diversify their boards to more closely reflect the diversity of society and the workforce in the United States. 
    • 16A102 - Urges the President of the United States and United States Senators to emphasize the importance of racial, ethnic, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender diversity in the selection process for United States Circuit Judges and United States District Judges and to employ strategies to expand the diversity of the pool of qualified applicants, nominees and appointees.
    • 21A605 - Urges federal, state, local, territorial and tribal jurisdictions to improve diversity in the profession and particularly in the judiciary by expanding opportunities and urging jurisdiction to systematically collect demographic data, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
    • 2016A113 - Urges all providers of legal services, including law firms and corporations, to expand and create opportunities at all levels of responsibility for diverse attorneys; and urges clients to assist in the facilitation of opportunities for diverse attorneys, and to direct a greater percentage of the legal services they purchase, both currently and in the future, to diverse attorneys.
    • 2018M105 - Urges providers of domestic and international dispute resolution to expand their rosters with minorities, women, person with disabilities and persons of differing sexual orientations and gender identities and to encourage the selection of diverse neutrals. 
    • 2006A113 - Urges the National Conference of Bar Examiners and urges all state and territorial bar associations to collaborate with that state or territory’s bar examiner to ensure that the bar examination does not result in a disparate impact on bar passage rates of minority candidates, urges the Law School Admission Council and all state, territorial and local bar associations to collaborate with accredited law schools to combat high rates of minority student attrition and to ensure that admission policies do not result in a disparate impact on acceptance rates of minority applicants; urges all state, territorial and local bar associations to collaborate with colleges and universities to develop and support pre-law programs that will increase minority applications to law schools and will increase the readiness of minority applicants for law school; and urges all state, territorial and local bar associations to collaborate with elementary and secondary schools to develop and support programs that will increase minority applications to college and will increase the readiness of minority applicants for college.
    • 22A510 - Supports legislation to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the intellectual property ecosystem, including inventorship, legal employment opportunities, and the representation of clients.
    • 22A410 - Encourages educators and educational institutions to develop K-12 curricula that includes the history and experiences of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

    Related Policies