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APPLICABLE LAW

Constitutional Provision

Amendment XIV

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are

citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any

law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within

its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Statute

Title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.

No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from

participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or

activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

Supreme Court Cases

• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
In this landmark decision, the Court held that a university’s admissions criteria which used race

as a definite and exclusive basis for an admission decision violated the Equal Protection clause of

the Fourteenth Amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In this case, the court applied strict

scrutiny, reasoning that the Equal Protection Clause requires that a government have a compelling interest

with narrowly tailored means to blatantly base their actions on race alone, as was the case here. However,
the Court left the door open for race to be considered among many other factors in admissions of higher

education.

• Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003)

The Court considered an Equal Protection challenge to the admission program of the University of

Michigan Law School. The policy at issue allowed for consideration of a number of factors, including a

personal statement, letters of recommendation, undergraduate grade point average (GPA), Law School

Admission Test (LSAT) score, and an essay describing how the applicant would contribute to Law School
life and diversity. Admission reviewers were directed to consider enthusiasm of the recommenders,

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