Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Argued October 12, 1977
Decided June 28, 1978
Full case nameRegents of the University of California v. Allan Bakke
Citations438 U.S. 265 (more)
98 S. Ct. 2733; 57 L. Ed. 2d 750; 1978 U.S. LEXIS 5; 17 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1000; 17 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) ¶ 8402
DecisionOpinion
Case history
PriorCertiorari to the Supreme Court of California, Bakke v. Regents of the University of California, 18 Cal. 3d 34, 132 Cal. Rptr. 680, 553 P.2d 1152 (1976); stay granted, 429 U.S. 953 (1977); cert. granted, 429 U.S. 1090 (1977).
Holding
Bakke was ordered admitted to UC Davis Medical School, and the school's practice of reserving 16 seats for minority students was struck down. Judgment of the Supreme Court of California reversed insofar as it forbade the university from taking race into account in admissions.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
MajorityPowell (Parts I and V–C), joined by Brennan, White, Marshall, Blackmun
PluralityPowell (Part III–A), joined by White
ConcurrencePowell (Parts II, III–B, III–C, IV, V–A, V–B, and VI)
Concur/dissentBrennan, White, Marshall, Blackmun
Concur/dissentWhite
Concur/dissentMarshall
Concur/dissentBlackmun
Concur/dissentStevens, joined by Burger, Stewart, Rehnquist
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. XIV;
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Abrogated by
Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023)
Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (2023)

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that involved a dispute of whether preferential treatment for minorities could reduce educational opportunities for whites without violating the Constitution. It upheld affirmative action, allowing race to be one of several factors in college admission policy. However, the court ruled that specific racial quotas, such as the 16 out of 100 seats set aside for minority students by the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, were impermissible.

Although the Supreme Court had outlawed segregation in schools by the Brown v. Board of Education decision and had ordered school districts to take steps to assure integration, the question of the legality of voluntary affirmative action programs initiated by universities remained unresolved. Proponents deemed such programs necessary to make up for past discrimination, while opponents believed they were illegal and a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. An earlier case that the Supreme Court had taken in an attempt to address the issue, DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974), was dismissed on procedural grounds.

Allan P. Bakke (/ˈbɑːki/), an engineer and former Marine officer, sought admission to medical school but was rejected for admission partly because of his age — Bakke was in his early 30s while applying, which at least two institutions considered too old. After twice being rejected by the University of California, Davis, he brought suit in state court challenging the constitutionality of the school's affirmative-action program. The California Supreme Court struck down the program as violative of the rights of white applicants and ordered Bakke admitted. The U.S. Supreme Court accepted the case amid wide public attention.

The ruling on the case was highly fractured. The nine justices issued a total of six opinions. The judgment of the court was written by Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.; two different blocs of four justices joined various parts of Powell's opinion. Finding diversity in the classroom to be a compelling state interest, Powell opined that affirmative action in general was allowed under the Constitution and the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Nevertheless, UC Davis's program went too far for a majority of justices; it was struck down and Bakke was admitted. The practical effect of Bakke was that most affirmative action programs continued without change. Questions about whether the Bakke case was merely a plurality opinion or binding precedent were addressed in 2003 when the court upheld Powell's position in the majority opinion of Grutter v. Bollinger. However, in 2023, the Supreme Court reversed that position, finding that affirmative action in student admissions impermissibly violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina.