Commonwealth of Virginia
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Jason S. Miyares
Attorney General
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Richmond, Virginia 23219
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Attorney General Miyares Fights Against Discriminatory Admission Policy at Thomas Jefferson High School
~ Attorney General Miyares filed a brief in the Supreme Court, joined by 15 other attorneys general, opposing the discriminatory admission process at Thomas Jefferson High School ~
RICHMOND, VA – Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares today announced he is leading an amicus brief in the United States Supreme Court against the discriminatory and illegal admissions process at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax, Virginia.
Thomas Jefferson High School, or "TJ” as it is referred to, is a public high school in Fairfax County, Virginia. TJ has consistently been ranked the number one public high school in the country. Up until last year, the school used a merit-based admissions process to select students.
Asian Americans represent 70% of the student body at TJ. In an illegal effort to align TJ's student body with the racial composition of the surrounding region, TJ abandoned its previous merit-based admissions system and adopted a new system designed to reduce dramatically the number of Asian-American students who attend TJ.
This policy targeted Asian-American students because of their race. Communications between members of the Board confirmed the discriminatory purpose of this policy change.
"Right now, there are innocent Virginians unfairly treated and punished not for anything they've done, but because of who they are. Thomas Jefferson High School's new admissions process is state sanctioned bigotry – it's wrong, and it's the exact opposite of equality. As Attorney General, I'll never stop fighting for the equal treatment and protection of all Virginians,” said Attorney General Miyares.
A federal judge, after reviewing the evidence, determined that this new admissions policy was a discriminatory act of racial balancing and issued an injunction ordering the Board to stop using this policy immediately. But a federal appellate court temporarily put the lower court's order on hold. This amicus brief urges the Supreme Court to lift the appellate court's order and require that the Board immediately stop discriminating on the basis of race.
The amicus brief was filed by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and signed by Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
Read the brief HERE.
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