Well, to be clear, the Supreme Court has not ruled on this case yet. The Department of Justice is part of the executive branch, responsible for the enforcement

Well, to be clear, the Supreme Court has not ruled on this case yet. The Department of Justice is part of the executive branch, responsible for the enforcement of the law. As for what the difference is, I'm no expert on law, and can't confidently provide an answer. To me, the difference seems to be that while white students may be slightly discriminated against through affirmative action, asian students face much larger hurdles. The Supreme Court rulings on affirmative action have not decided anything as clear cut as "affirmative action is completely allowed", nor "affirmative action is not allowed". From my understanding, explicit quotas are not allowed, but if a school can reasonably argue that their use of affirmative action serves its "education goal", then it's allowable.