Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1: Dubious Prospects for Diversity as a Compelling Governmental Interest

The Supreme Court applied strict scrutiny to diversification plans for public high school enrollment in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007). Unlike the diversity plan upheld in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), where law school applicants were potentially denied a benefit, all students in the Seattle plan were awarded a high school seat but perhaps not in their preferred school. Nevertheless, this plan was struck down by the Court as a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, on the grounds that it was not sufficiently narrowly tailored. The question of whether diversity can withstand the other aspect of strict scrutiny, serving a compelling government interest, was not as definitively answered, although the prospects appear dim. A reasonable inference from Parents Involved for public human resource management is that race-conscious diversity plans are not likely to receive constitutional cover from the current Court.