Francisco Phillips, a professor in the law school at the University of Texas law school and an expert on affirmative action cases, said the state had a duty to defend the policy because it had signed off on it.
Mr. Phillips argues that the affirmative action policy is a constitutional right that all institutions of higher education must fight to preserve, especially public universities with large numbers of minority students.
“Texas is one of the most prominent university systems in the country.” Mr. Phillips said, “It’s very much for the good of the university system that Texas upholds those rules.”
Mr. Phillips argues that the high courts have long recognized that public universities are obligated under the Constitution to protect racial segregation on their campuses. So in that sense, the law is binding.
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However, some lower courts are also now grappling with whether the racial quotas are valid as constitutional, and whether other policies they include should also be upheld. Those questions are likely to be brought before the U.S. Supreme Court during the next few years.
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The Texas decision did not affect cases in other schools in the state. In a unanimous decision, the highest court declined to dismiss a suit filed on behalf from several African-American students that argued that the policy violated their constitutional rights. But the court denied a request from some white students who sought additional time to file in defense of their school’s policies.
Those cases are expected to be taken to court over the coming months.
Mr. Brown’s lawsuit centered on a policy that forbids state universities from using race to decide on admission of undergraduate students of any race who want a college admission degree. But Mr. Brown and his allies argued that the statute violated their rights to free speech even though they were not being used to promote racial preferences.
Because the case came before the state’s highest court, a decision in favor by that court