Supreme Court could rule on gay marriage, affirmative action next week

Lauren Hovis was on the Washington, D.C. metro and headed to the U.S. Supreme Court building well before the crack of dawn Thursday.

“I woke up yesterday at 4 a.m. to get to the Supreme Court a little before five,” said Hovis, former vice president of UNC Young Democrats and a 2013 UNC graduate.

“You just don’t know what day the high-profile cases are going to be decided.”

None of those high-profile cases — namely the voting rights, affirmative action and two gay marriage cases — had decisions released Thursday.

But despite five hours of waiting and sore feet, Hovis said she was thrilled to be able to sit in the actual court chamber, hearing opinions voiced by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan and Antonin Scalia. She said she also caught a glimpse of Ted Olson, the lawyer challenging California’s Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage in the state.

Although the court’s decisions on gay marriage — involving the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 — are unlikely to affect North Carolina, strong feelings remain among UNC students about the cases.

Sophomore Daniela Hernandez-Blanco, who works with several immigrant advocacy organizations, said a ruling striking down part of the Defense of Marriage Act would help level the playing field for undocumented immigrants trying to apply for U.S. citizenship through their American same-sex spouse.

As Congress endures a difficult push to pass bipartisan immigration reform, marriage equality for immigrants has taken a backseat, Blanco said.

“You can’t just leave people out because it’s strategically better,” she said. “It’s already hard enough to get these changes for immigrants.

“This would give us more of a pathway to fight for those rights.”

Junior John Son said he supports marriage equality in general and hopes the court will rule in favor of it in both cases.

“I don’t really remember when I chose to be heterosexual,” Son said. “When did you?”

Experts say the Proposition 8 ruling will likely affect only California or a handful of states that already recognize civil unions among gay couples.

If the controversial provision of the Defense of Marriage Act is overturned completely, it would give all legally married same-sex couples the right to certain government benefits.

Hovis said she is most apprehensive for the Defense of Marriage Act decision because it could set a precedent for gay couples to have their marriages recognized in other states, at least for the purpose of federal aid.

“If we get this decided on, it’ll be a lot easier for more states to take on gay marriage,” she said. “I think it’ll be a very likely and good step forward.”

Not the only big case

With affirmative action, the impending Supreme Court decision could have more direct implications for UNC.

Abigail Fisher, who graduated from Louisiana State University last year, sued the University of Texas-Austin in 2008 for allegedly denying her admission in favor of a less-qualified minority student.

UT-Austin automatically admits the top 10 percent of graduates from all state high schools — and for the remainder of the class, admissions officers factor in applicants’ race for diversity purposes.

If the justices decide Fisher’s 14th Amendment rights under the Equal Protection clause were violated and make a broad ruling, they could rule out the use of race in admissions at all universities.

Faculty from UNC’s School of Law and the University Counsel filed an amicus brief last year on behalf of the University, arguing that using race as one factor yields a more diverse student body that enhances the value of each student’s education and experience on campus.

Steve Farmer, vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions at UNC, said at the time that having the freedom to admit students from all backgrounds is key to preparing UNC’s graduates for life after college.

“The more they learn from the experiences and perspectives of others, the better they’ll be able to face the challenges of a changing and increasingly diverse world, and to lead others to face those challenges,” he said.

Although Monday is the last scheduled day the justices can announce decisions, Hovis said she expects them to extend the deadline for a few days, given that 11 cases remain undecided.