Justice Brown Jackson no longer required to recuse from admissions case

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) — News10NBC is learning the Supreme Court has taken a procedural step that will impact the way that a high-profile challenge to affirmative action in college admissions is decided.

The Court agreed in January to take up the issue by granting two cases: one involving Harvard, a private university, and the other from the University of North Carolina, a public institution.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson previously said she would recuse herself since the court had consolidated cases on a state school and Harvard, where she was on an advisory board. But in a brief order Friday, the Court said the two cases are no longer consolidated.

Because they’re now separate, Jackson can participate in the case from the University of North Carolina. The Supreme Court will hear the cases in its next term, which begins in October.