Justices raise doubts on race-conscious college admissions

The survival of affirmative action in higher education appeared to be in serious trouble Monday at a conservative-dominated Supreme Court after hours of debate over difficult questions of race.

The court is weighing challenges to admissions programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard that use race among many factors in seeking a diverse student body.

The court’s six conservative justices all expressed doubts about the practice, while the three liberals defended the programs, which are similar to those used by many other private and public universities.

Arguments in the North Carolina case topped 2 hours and 45 minutes, having been scheduled for 90 minutes.

Following the overturning of the half-century abortion precedent of Roe v. Wade in June, the cases offer a big new test of whether the court now dominated 6-3 by conservatives will jolt the law to the right on another of the nation’s most contentious cultural issues.