VIDEO: The Bloggers Briefing with U.S. Civil Rights Commissioners

Rob Bluey / August 14, 2012

The U.S. Supreme Court will wade into the contentious debate over racial discrimination when it hears Fisher v. University of Texas this October. Two members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will outline what’s at stake at today’s Bloggers Briefing. The briefing airs live at noon ET.

Abigail Fisher sued the University of Texas after her application was rejected in 2008. Fisher argues that the university’s racial discrimination policies were the reason.

Today we’ll hear from Commissioners Gail Heriot, a law professor at the University of San Diego, and Todd Gaziano, director of the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957, is charged with studying discrimination and advancing civil rights.

Heriot, who was previously served as civil rights counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, filed an amicus brief in the case. It is considered one of the biggest cases on the court’s docket. From an earlier report on The Foundry:

Fisher would almost certainly have been accepted if she were black or Hispanic because of the racial discrimination policies of the University of Texas. Hundreds of colleges use the same type of “preferences” that UT Austin implemented, in which admissions officers consider an applicant’s skin color and ethnicity—an immoral and unjustified practice that was unfortunately sanctioned by the Supreme Court in 2003 in Grutter v. Bollinger.

Also on tap for today’s briefing is a discussion of sociologist Mark Regnerus’ groundbreaking New Family Structures Study, which provoked a hostile reaction from opponents of traditional marriage. Heritage’s Jennifer Marshall and Christine Kim will discuss the study’s findings and the left’s intolerant reaction.

Rosa Anna Tremoglie, a judge visiting from Sicily, will also be in attendance. She’s the founder and president of Academia Res Publica, an Italian organization affiliated with the Federalist Society.