Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_l6gn.pdf
Page Number: 49

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

1 

THOMAS, J., concurring 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

_________________ 

Nos. 20–1199 and 21–707 
_________________ 

20–1199 

STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC., 
PETITIONER 
v. 
PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF 
HARVARD COLLEGE 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT 

STUDENTS FOR FAIR ADMISSIONS, INC., 
PETITIONER 
v. 
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, ET AL. 

21–707 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT TO THE UNITED 
STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT 

[June 29, 2023]

 JUSTICE THOMAS, concurring. 
In the wake of the Civil War, the country focused its at-
tention  on  restoring  the  Union  and  establishing  the  legal
status  of  newly  freed  slaves.  The  Constitution  was 
amended to abolish slavery and proclaim that all persons
born in the United States are citizens, entitled to the privi-
leges or immunities of citizenship and the equal protection 
of the laws.  Amdts. 13, 14.  Because of that second found-
ing,  “[o]ur  Constitution  is  color-blind,  and  neither  knows
nor tolerates classes among citizens.”  Plessy v. Ferguson, 
163 U. S. 537, 559 (1896) (Harlan, J., dissenting). 

This  Court’s  commitment  to  that  equality  principle  has
ebbed and flowed over time.  After forsaking the principle 
for  decades,  offering  a  judicial  imprimatur  to  segregation