Bakke V. Regents

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

The case of Regents of University of California v. Bakke came up when Allan Bakke applied for the University of California. The University reserved 16 places of the 100 entering students for qualified minorities as part of the University's affirmative action program. Bakke was a more than qualified student but was rejected from the University. Bakke claimed he was denied admission due to race. The decision was split, one side was against the racial quota system practiced by the University, claiming it violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment and the Civil Rights Act 1964. The other side said that the use of race for admitting students was permissible as one of several admission criteria, and extended gains for minorities through affirmative action. In the end, Bakke was admitted into the University.

The court's decision said that while affirmative action systems were constitutional, limiting the number of minorities admitted into a college was unconstitutional. The court decision's affect on the social nature of America showed how affirmative action was to properly be used within institutions. The University of California improperly used affirmative action by instituting the quota system, but the use of affirmative action remained constitutional, allowing for minorities to have a better chance at being admitted into schools. The decision also ended the quota system based on minorities, widening the admission of minorities. The court decision's affect on the political nature of America was that it changed the way which they handled affirmative action in certain public works. They completely through out the quota system claiming it to be unconstitutional, and worked with affirmative action and helped them to figure where it was okay and where it wasn't.