Affirmative Action Timeline Archives
Affirmative Action Timeline

6/24/2013: Supreme Court remanded affirmative action case back to lower court

3/25/2013: Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear new affirmative action case

11/15/2012: Sixth Circuit ruled Michigan ban on affirmative action unconstitutional

11/6/2012: Oklahoma voters approved ban on affirmative action

10/10/2012: Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

11/6/2012: Oklahoma voters abolished use of affirmative action

2/21/2012: Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

1/1/2012: New Hampshire affirmative action ban took effect

10/8/2011: California governor vetoed bill allowing affirmative action in college admissions

7/29/2011: Michigan Attorney General appealed decision to overturn affirmative action ban

7/1/2011: Michigan appeals court found ban on affirmative action unconstitutional

1/18/2011: US appeals court upheld the University of Texas at Austin affirmative action policy

11/2/2010: Arizona voters approved ban on affirmative action

8/2/2010: California high court ruled ban on affirmative action constitutional

8/17/2009: Federal court upheld the University of Texas at Austin affirmative action policy

6/29/2009: Supreme Court ruled reverse discrimination unconstitutional

11/7/2008: Colorado voters voted against banning affirmative action

11/4/2008: Nebraska voters approved ban on affirmative action

1/19/2007: Supreme Court declined to hear University of Michigan Proposition 2 case

11/7/2006: Michigan voters passed Proposition 2, which restricted affirmative action

6/28/2006: Supreme Court ruled use of affirmative action in assigning students to school unconstitutional

9/20/2005: Labor department granted affirmative action exception for Katrina contractors

6/23/2003: Supreme Court upheld use of affirmative action in college and law school admissions

4/1/2003: Supreme Court heard arguments in University of Michigan admissions cases

12/3/1998: The state of Washington abolished all forms of affirmative action

11/3/1997: California banned all forms of affirmative action

3/18/1996: Fifth Circuit ruled Texas public universities must use race-neutral criteria in admissions

7/20/1995: President Clinton set guidelines for affirmative action

6/12/1995: Supreme Court ruled that use of affirmative action at federal level must be subjected to strict scrutiny

1/23/1989: Supreme Court ruled that use of affirmative action at state and local levels must be subjected to strict scrutiny

2/25/1987: Supreme Court upheld strict quota requirement in Alabama Safety Department hiring practices

5/19/1986: Supreme Court ruled that firing non-minority employees before minority ones unconstitutional

7/2/1980: Supreme Court ruled that modest quotas on affirmative action constitutional

6/28/1978: Supreme Court set limits on affirmative action in Bakke

9/24/1965: Executive Order 11246 enacted

6/4/1965: President Johnson delivered speech defining concept of affirmative action

7/2/1964: President Johnson signed Civil Rights Act

3/6/1961: President Kennedy signed Executive Order 10925