USATODAY.com - Court to rule on college race issue

The court will decide by next June if race can be used in college admissions, an issue that the justices have dealt with only once before, in a cloudy 1978 ruling that led to more confusion.

The justices will consider whether white applicants to the University of Michigan and its law school were unconstitutionally turned down because of their race.

In other action Monday the court:


Agreed to decide if inmates have constitutional rights to jailhouse visits from young relatives and others, in a case that could have far-reaching implications for prisons around the country.

Said it will consider whether California prosecutors can get around time limits on child molestation cases, agreeing to hear an appeal from a grandfather charged with sexually abusing two family members decades earlier.


Several Supremes, due to retire, will have their last year an important one.