Victory for Asian American students and equality under the law: Second Circuit unanimously rules in CACAGNY v. Adams 

New York City; September 24, 2024: Today, in a major win for Asian American families and equal protection under the law, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in Chinese Americans Citizens Alliance of Greater New York (CACAGNY) v. Adams.

“Today’s Second Circuit decision marks a significant victory for families hoping to send their children to New York City’s elite Specialized High Schools,” said Glenn Roper, a senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation. “The unanimous ruling concluded that the City’s revised admissions policy had a discriminatory effect on Asian American students and that our clients are entitled to discovery into whether this policy was driven by discriminatory intent.”

The court’s decision held that a valid equal protection claim could proceed if “any individual has been negatively affected or harmed by that discriminatory law or policy based on race, even if there is no disparate impact to members of that racial class in the aggregate.” 

In 2017, New York City’s mayor and Education chancellor revised the admissions criteria for the City’s elite Specialized High Schools by expanding the Discovery Program, reserving 20 percent of seats for low-income students but excluding many of the students from heavily Asian middle schools. Various public statements by the mayor and others indicated that the policy change was intended to reduce the percentage of Asian students at the schools and to increase the percentage of black and Hispanic students.

CACAGNY and Asian American parents and students challenged the program under the Equal Protection Clause, with free representation by Pacific Legal Foundation. The district court split the discovery process into two parts, holding that unless the plaintiffs could first show a discriminatory effect, they couldn’t seek to uncover evidence about whether the policy change was motivated by discriminatory intent. The Court of Appeals correctly held that a discriminatory effect is suffered by individuals and that showing an aggregate effect to a racial group is not a prerequisite to invoking an individual’s equal protection rights.   

“Students and families interested in New York City’s Specialized High Schools should be extremely pleased by the decision of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of CACAGNY,” said Wai Wah Chin, charter president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York. “The legal fight is far from over, but the unanimous decision is very reassuring. We greatly appreciate the tremendous work of our counsel, Pacific Legal Foundation, that led to this decision and are grateful that they are our advocates.”

This case, Chinese American Citizens Alliance of Greater New York v. Adams, is a triumph not only for CACAGNY but also for the principle that admissions should be based on merit, not race. 

Additional resources: 
Victory in NYC lawsuit on Specialized High School admissions
CACAGNY wins appeal against summary dismissal in Specialized High School case