Smith v. University of Washington

Plaintiffs Katuria Smith, Angela Rock and Michael Pyle are white Washington residents who claim that the University of Washington Law School ■ (the “Law School”) rejected their applications because of the Law School’s unconstitutional consideration of race and ethnicity as factors in its admissions program. They appeal the judgment the district court entered against them following a bench trial.

The question presented is a narrow one due in part to external events that have overtaken this particular litigation. First, the Supreme Court last year ratified our earlier holding in this case that educational diversity constitutes a compelling state interest. Smith v. Univ. of Wash. Law Sch., 233 F.3d 1188, 1200-01 (9th Cir.2000); see Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306, 325 , 123 S.Ct. 2325 , 156 L.Ed.2d 304 (2003); Grate v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244, 268 , 123 S.Ct. 2411 , 156 L.Ed.2d 257 (2003). In addition, *370 after plaintiffs filed this lawsuit, Washington residents approved a voter initiative in 1998 prohibiting the kind of race-based affirmative action plan at issue here, thereby mooting the plaintiffs’ injunctive and declaratory claims, which the district court dismissed. See…