The outcome probably depends on O'Connor. The four most conservative members of the court oppose any use of race-based affirmative action. They are Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Clarence Thomas. O'Connor has voted regularly with them, but she also has left the door open to a limited use of affirmative action to deal with continuing discrimination. In the next few years, the court is also likely to take up a new challenge to affirmative action in college admissions.
Several cases are pending in the lower courts.