<p>Bandit is right about the top-10% rule being legislative and not court-mandated. Not only that, but the Supreme Court effectively overruled Hopwood in the Michigan case (forget the name) which permits racial preferences. So top-10% was adopted as an anti-Hopwood measure, but then Hopwood went away a few years later. But by then top-10% was popular, and public sentiment in favor of top-10% now keeps it in place.</p>