From [HERE] A federal judge has upheld the U.S. Naval Academy’s use of race in admissions practices, ruling that the school has “established a compelling national security interest” in championing diversity and inclusion within the military.

Friday’s decision deals a blow to Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the same group that challenged affirmative action at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. That case resulted in the Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision, which banned race-based admissions at civilian universities. The question remained whether that ruling applied to military academies as well.

U.S. Senior District judge Richard Bennett of Maryland found that it did not, concluding that the “U.S. Naval Academy is distinct from a civilian university.”

“At bottom, the Court, considering all evidence before it, finds that the military’s interest in growing and maintaining a highly qualified and diverse officer corps is informed by history and learned experience, and that a highly qualified and diverse officer corps remains critical for military effectiveness and thus for national security,” Bennett wrote in the 179-page ruling.

“Plaintiff’s suggestion to the contrary contradicts decades of broad historical and military consensus,” Bennett added, rejecting SFFA’s legal challenge.

In its landmark ruling on affirmative action last year, the Supreme Court exempted the nation’s military academies — including West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy — from its purview. The Court left open the possibility that there are “potentially distinct interests that military academies may present” in the future, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in a footnote of the majority opinion. [MORE]