Question

Univ. of CA. v. Bakke—Brief this case into four sections:

1. Facts
2. Issues (the legal question the court took on)
3. Holding
4. Court Reasoning

Answer 1

Facts: Allan Bakke, a white man in his mid-30s, had applied for the admission to the University of California twice and was denied both times. The sixteen places in each entry class of one hundred for minorities who were "qualified" was reserved by the school, as a part of the it's affirmative action program, with a motive to redress longstanding, unfair exclusions of the minority from the medical profession. The petitioner (Allan Bakke) qualifications (college GPA as well as the test scores) were higher compared to any other minority students admitted in the two years but both times his application was denied. University of California was sued by the petitioner for “reverse discrimination.”

Issues: Did the University of California Medical School violate the equal protection clause under Fourteenth Amendment's, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, by their affirmative action policy that lead to the repeated denial of Bakke's application for admission to the university?

Holding: The Court ruled that the university could use race for the evaluation of candidates, however could not admit students with the racial quota. The court ordered for the admission of Bakke in a split decision,

Reasoning: The Supreme Court stated that race could be one of numerous reasons determining the admission policies in college; however rejection of the application on the use of racial quotas is unconstitutional