Texas Tech’s Dr. Katie Langford Attends Fisher v. University of Texas Supreme Court Hearing [AUDIO]

On the Thursday edition of the Chad Hasty Show, Dr. Katie Langford, professor of communication studies at Texas Tech University, talked with Chad Hasty about the Fisher v. University of Texas case going to the Supreme Court this week.

Dr. Langford was in attendance for the opening arguments of the Fisher v. University of Texas case, in which plaintiff Abigail Fisher argued that she was denied admission into the University of Texas because she was white. Dr. Langford said that the opening arguments were quite interesting, and that not just the university, but Fisher's claim was also challenged by the Supreme Court Justices.

We spent a lot of time in questionings asking about Grutter vs Bollinger, which is a case that came out of Michigan with race and admissions, and so [Justice Breyer] wanted to know how is this case distinctive from that case? And Sotomayor came back with a interesting point that everybody agrees that race is important and should be considered. But Fisher's attorney could not answer that question of what he wanted done differently."

Dr. Langford said that while it seemed each judge had they own view on the case, it wasn't apparent at the time how the court as a whole was going to lean. She speculated that the decision would be close, either 4-4- or 5-3, and that Judge Kennedy may be the swing vote in the case.

You can hear the opening arguments in this case at oyez.org.