The impact of the Supreme Court on Affirmative Action policy to ensure equal protections has been significant. Over the years, the Court has issued several landmark rulings that have shaped the implementation of Affirmative Action policies in the United States.
One such ruling was the 1978 decision in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. In this case, the Court held that while race could be considered as one of several factors in admissions decisions, rigid quotas based on race were unconstitutional. This decision effectively limited the use of quotas in Affirmative Action policies and required institutions to consider race in a more flexible and individualized way.
More recently, the 2016 decision in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin reaffirmed the Court's stance that race could be considered as one factor in admissions decisions, but only as part of a holistic review process that considered a range of factors, including academic merit and extracurricular achievements.
Overall, the Supreme Court's impact on Affirmative Action policy has been to clarify and refine the ways in which race can be considered as a factor in admissions decisions, while also placing limits on the use of quotas and other inflexible approaches.