Campbell says attorney general's office is preparing for Supreme Court rulings

All eyes are on the Supreme Court this week as it enters its final week in session this year. The court is expected to give rulings on 10 pending cases, ranging from student loans to affirmative action.

“We're continuing to follow each decision closely,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell said Tuesday on Boston Public Radio. “We're following the affirmative action case, everything related to student debt — and we won't know what steps we'll need to take until we get that decision in its completion. And we'll follow those closely and do the work that needs to be done.”

The Supreme Court is expected to have a final ruling on President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program, where millions of borrowers are awaiting an answer that has been stalled. Meanwhile, Campbell says her office can answer concerns surrounding student debt relief.

“We have a whole team in the office every single day working hard with constituents, putting money back into their pockets, but particularly educating them on all of the initiatives, all of the programming, all of the debt relief programs they may be eligible for, including some of the recent changes,” said Campbell.

She said people who have questions about student debt relief can reach out to her office for guidance.

The court is also ruling on whether colleges and universities can continue to take race into consideration as a factor in admitting students. Overturning affirmative action would impact elite colleges and make them find other ways to diversify their future classes.

“We don't want folks to enter a space of fear. You know, we are already mobilizing with our higher ed institutions here in Massachusetts, the governor's office, the executive office of education. Everyone's coming to the table to proactively be thinking about how we continue to diversify our institutions and to do that in such a way that it creates the diversity we need. So, more to come on that and the direction that the court ultimately decides to go will dictate what steps we take,” Campbell assures.

Campbell stated that she does not want to see affirmative action overturned. She attended UCLA law school after the passage of Proposition 209, which ended state affirmative action programs in California in 1996.

“They saw the numbers drastically decrease when it came to students of color at UCLA. In the class before me, there were I think six Black students. One Black female in the entire UCLA law school class post-Prop. 209,” said Campbell.

Campbell expressed that people shouldn’t have “fear just yet” since the ruling is still undecided. She believes there might be a chance the court “tweaks” affirmative action in a way where institutions still create the diversity they need. And she said the attorney general's office is constantly thinking about how to ensure institutions are representative of the communities they serve.

“Because even as we sit here following the Supreme Court, we know racial disparities still exist in every system. The question I have and the team is working on is: What are we doing about that?"