WEBVTT - Bloomberg Law Brief: DOJ Targets Affirmative Action (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Well, now it's time for our daily Bloomberg Law Brief,

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<v Speaker 1>exploring legal issues in the news and Today Bloomberg lahst

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<v Speaker 1>dun Grasso discusses reports that the Trump administration is planning

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<v Speaker 1>to investigate anti white bias in US college admissions. She

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<v Speaker 1>speaks with Casey Johnson, a professor at Brooklyn College. Casey,

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<v Speaker 1>let's start with the Supreme Courts position on affirmative action.

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<v Speaker 1>What is it? The Court has said that, under limited circumstances,

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<v Speaker 1>colleges and universities can use race in the admissions process.

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<v Speaker 1>They can't use it as a quota, they can't have

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<v Speaker 1>a large numerical scale, but in what universities often call

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<v Speaker 1>a holistic environment, which is that race can be used

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<v Speaker 1>as one of a number of factors to tip up

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<v Speaker 1>at applicants uh candidacy in the admissions process. There have

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<v Speaker 1>been three decisions, one in eight one in two thousand three,

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<v Speaker 1>the most recent this Fisher decision out of the University

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<v Speaker 1>of Texas. So there's some limitations on universities can do,

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<v Speaker 1>but they they are allowed to use race in the

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<v Speaker 1>in the process. So what do you envision this investigation

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<v Speaker 1>will entail. One of the questions, the question of of

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<v Speaker 1>affirmative action and higher education has been something that divided

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<v Speaker 1>liberals and conservatives for forty years. This is why it's

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<v Speaker 1>constantly gone back to the court. The conservative argument is

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<v Speaker 1>that despite these decisions from the Supreme Court saying you

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<v Speaker 1>can't use quotas, that effectively what elite universities have done

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<v Speaker 1>is to use quotas. If you look at the percentage

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<v Speaker 1>of students African American or Hispanic students at Harvard or Yale,

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<v Speaker 1>it's roughly the same percentage every year. So the argument

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<v Speaker 1>that I think is behind the Attorney General's claim here

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<v Speaker 1>is that if the government can get inside these university

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<v Speaker 1>admissions offices, what they will discover, and again there's no

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<v Speaker 1>hard evidence of that, um, what they'll discover is that

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<v Speaker 1>universities are going beyond the limitations that the Supreme Court

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<v Speaker 1>has said in tipping up the scales for for Africa,

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<v Speaker 1>mostly African American and Hispanic applicants. That's Casey Johnson, a

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<v Speaker 1>professor at Brooklyn College, speaking with Bloomberg Law host Jing Grosso.

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<v Speaker 1>You can listen at Bloomberg Law weekdays at one pm

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<v Speaker 1>all street time here on Bloomberg Radio Now. Among top

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<v Speaker 1>legal stories from Bloomberg Law. A jury in Brooklyn today

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<v Speaker 1>begins four days of deliberations in the Martin schu Kelley

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<v Speaker 1>fraud case. Kelly is accused of taking money from investors

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<v Speaker 1>in his hedge funds and using it to start his

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<v Speaker 1>drug company, Retrofin. He could get up to twenty years

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<v Speaker 1>in prison if he's convicted. A leverage alone that proved

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<v Speaker 1>to be toxic for investors is coming back to haunt

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<v Speaker 1>JP Morgan Chase, the trustee handling claims for former lenders

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<v Speaker 1>to Millennium Health, is suing JP Morgan in three other

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<v Speaker 1>firms involved in the loan. The suit claims the bank's

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<v Speaker 1>failed to tell investors about an investigation into what was

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<v Speaker 1>called Millenniums flagrantly illegal billing practices. JP Morgan says it

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<v Speaker 1>acted appropriately, and that's this morning's Bloomberg Law Brief. You

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