Landmark Supreme Court Case · Equal protection and affirmative action
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
- Decided
- 1978
- Vote
- 5–4
- Opinion
- Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. (controlling opinion)
- Constitutional provisions
Facts of the case
The medical school at the University of California, Davis, reserved 16 of its 100 seats each year for minority applicants under a special admissions program. Allan Bakke, a white applicant, was rejected in 1973 and 1974, even though his scores were higher than those of some students admitted under the special program. He sued.
The constitutional question
Did the medical school's racial quota violate the Equal Protection Clause and the Civil Rights Act of 1964?
The decision
The Court was deeply divided and issued a split decision. Rigid racial quotas were unconstitutional, and Bakke had to be admitted. But race could be considered as one factor among many in admissions to achieve a diverse student body.
The Court's reasoning
Justice Powell's controlling opinion found that diversity in higher education could be a compelling interest, but that setting aside a fixed number of seats by race went too far.
Why it matters
It shaped affirmative action in admissions for decades. Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) upheld a holistic plan. In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), the Court held that the race-conscious admissions programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the Equal Protection Clause, effectively ending most race-based admissions.