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Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke

1. Regents of Univ. of Cal. v. Bakke, (1978)

2. Facts: Bakke was an applicant to the U.C. Davis Medical School, which had two separate admissions programs - one for whites, and one for minorities. They had a 16% minorities quota system. Bakke was not admitted, but minorities with significantly lower qualifications were admitted.

3. Procedural Posture: Bakke filed suit in the lower court under Title VI of the civil rights act and equal protection. The trial court held that the university could not take race into account, but refused to order Bakke’s admission claiming that he had failed his burden of proof that he would have been admitted but for the existence of special admissions. The Cal. Supreme Court applied strict scrutiny to strike it down, holding that there were less intrusive means of furthering the important state interest in having minority physicians, and ordered Bakke admitted.

4. Issue: Whether the U.C. Davis admissions program is a violation of equal protection because it discriminates intentionally against whites.

5. Holding: Yes.

6. Majority Reasoning: The fact that this is discrimination against whites (and thus benign against minorities) does not change the court’s obligation to use strict scrutiny, because this is still a racial classification. Any classification based upon race must be necessary to accomplish a substantial state interest. A classification which intentionally disadvantages one race in order to grant other races an advantage is unconstitutional in the absence of specific findings of a constitutional violation [de jure]. The constitution forbids discrimination for its own sake. The state has a legitimate interest in eliminating and correcting for discrimination. However, there has been no finding of any constitutional violation which would give rise to a requirement for a remedy. The state’s interest in promoting diversity in education is also legitimate. However, race may only be one factor in the determination of diversity among otherwise qualified applicants. There are other characteristics besides race that promote diversity. Since the white students may only compete for certain seats, and the minorities are free to compete for every seat, solely because of race, this practice violates the equal protection clause because there are less burdensome alternatives available, such as aggressive recruiting.

7. Concurrence Reasoning: [Brennan] The majority is correct in stating that race may be considered in admissions. Strict scrutiny is applicable here, but this admissions process passes it. Sometimes the white majority is required to bear the burden of societal discrimination in the remedying of past discrimination. To hold that there must be finding of actual constitutional violations as a prerequisite to race-conscious remedial actions would discourage voluntary compliance. The purpose of the University’s policy is to overcome the effects of prior segregation. It compensates applicants who would have been more admittable but for the existence of societal discrimination. Once admitted, they are judged by the same standards as the other students. [Marshall] It is unnecessary in the 20th century for individual blacks to demonstrate that they were discriminated against, given the long history of state-sponsored, legal discrimination. [Stevens] The issue of whether race could ever be used as a factor in the determination of admissions was not before this court. This was not a class action, but an individual action. The only admissions policy before the court was that of U.C. Davis.

 

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