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Texas v. Lesage
Supreme Court of the United States (1999) | 145 L. Ed. 2d 347; 120 S. Ct. 467; 528 U.S. 18; 1999 U.S. LEXIS 8014
TL;DR: A white applicant sued a university for using race in its admissions process. The Supreme Court held that even if race was considered, the university is not liable for damages if it can prove the applicant would have been rejected anyway under a race-neutral system.
Legal Significance: This case establishes that the Mt. Healthy "same-decision" causation standard applies to Equal Protection claims for damages. A defendant can defeat liability by proving the same adverse decision would have been made absent the unconstitutional racial consideration, distinguishing this from claims for forward-looking injunctive relief.