Michigan's affirmative action ban upheld by Supreme Court

(CNN)Michigan's law banning the use of affirmative action in college admissions was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday, in a case that raised thorny questions over race and remedies.

The 6-2 ruling reversed a lower court's 2013 ruling that the voter-approved affirmative action ban violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection guarantees. Three justices in the majority -- Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito -- concluded that the lower court did not have the authority to set aside the law.

It is the latest step in a legal and political battle over whether state colleges can use race and gender as factors in choosing which students to admit.

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