Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Association for Education Fairness v. Montgomery County Board of Education, et al.
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 23-1068 · judgment February 3, 2026
(petition-stage, structural)
Well below the 4.1% base rate, with no standout signals pointing toward a grant.
Question presented
Whether a plaintiff alleging that a school district implemented facially-neutral admissions criteria for a racially discriminatory purpose must show that the criteria produced a disparate impact on the targeted racial group before a court may consider evidence of discriminatory intent.
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Christopher Matthew Kieser
Pacific Legal Foundation
For respondent
Jo-Ann Tamila Sagar
Hogan Lovells Cadwalader US LLP
Case
Subject area
Civil Rights (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 3 conferences
Amicus briefs
5 cert-stage
Linked docket
25A1086
Order
Order list, October 19, 2026 · Certiorari granted
Proceedings
- Oct 13 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/16/2026.
- Sep 16 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/9/2026.
- Sep 10 2026Reply of petitioner Association for Education Fairness filed.
- Aug 27 2026Brief amici curiae of Students Who Oppose Racial Discrimination, et al. filed.
- Aug 27 2026Brief of respondents Montgomery County Board of Education, et al. in opposition filed.
- Aug 26 2026Brief amicus curiae of Students for Fair Admissions filed.
- Aug 26 2026Brief amici curiae of Asian American Coalition for Education, et al. filed.
- Aug 21 2026Brief amici curiae of American Civil Rights Project, et al. filed.
- Aug 19 2026Brief amici curiae of The Buckeye Institute, et al. filed.
- Jul 28 2026Response Requested. (Due August 27, 2026)
- Jul 22 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
- Jul 17 2026Waiver of right of respondent Montgomery County Board of Education, et al. to respond filed.
- Jun 29 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 3, 2026)
- Apr 08 2026Application (25A1086) granted by The Chief Justice extending the time to file until July 3, 2026.
- Apr 01 2026Application (25A1086) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from May 4, 2026 to July 3, 2026, submitted to The Chief Justice.