Washington — A federal district court on Friday upheld the U.S. Naval Academy’s race-conscious admissions policies, rejecting a challenge brought by the group Students for Fair Admissions following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision ending affirmative action in higher education.
U.S. Senior District Judge Richard Bennett wrote in a 179-page decision that the Naval Academy “established a compelling national security interest in a diverse officer corps” for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, and tied its use of race in admissions to “the realization of an officer corps that represents the country it protects and the people it leads.”
Bennett said the academy’s race-conscious admissions policy must receive deference extended to military judgments, which he said are set by the president and not the federal judiciary.
“The Naval Academy’s race-conscious admissions policies are narrowly tailored to further a compelling governmental…
