Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

E15486

United States Supreme Court case constitutional law case equal protection case landmark affirmative action case

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke is a landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down rigid racial quotas in university admissions while upholding the constitutionality of using race as one factor among many to foster diversity.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke canonical	16
influenced later affirmative action cases such as Gratz v. Bollinger	1
majority opinion in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T126055 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Context triple: [Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, keyCase, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke]

A. San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez is a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that education is not a fundamental right under the Constitution, upholding school funding systems based on local property taxes.
B. Employment Division v. Smith
Employment Division v. Smith is a landmark 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that significantly narrowed protections for religious practices under the Free Exercise Clause by upholding the enforcement of neutral, generally applicable laws even when they incidentally burden religion.
C. Doe v. Bolton
Doe v. Bolton is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, alongside Roe v. Wade, expanded and defined the scope of abortion rights by striking down restrictive state regulations.
D. Katzenbach v. McClung
Katzenbach v. McClung is a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the federal government’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in local restaurants under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
E. Bolling v. Sharpe
Bolling v. Sharpe is a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that held racial segregation in Washington, D.C. public schools unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Target entity description: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke is a landmark 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down rigid racial quotas in university admissions while upholding the constitutionality of using race as one factor among many to foster diversity.

A. San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez
San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez is a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case in which the Court held that education is not a fundamental right under the Constitution, upholding school funding systems based on local property taxes.
B. Employment Division v. Smith
Employment Division v. Smith is a landmark 1990 U.S. Supreme Court decision that significantly narrowed protections for religious practices under the Free Exercise Clause by upholding the enforcement of neutral, generally applicable laws even when they incidentally burden religion.
C. Doe v. Bolton
Doe v. Bolton is a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that, alongside Roe v. Wade, expanded and defined the scope of abortion rights by striking down restrictive state regulations.
D. Katzenbach v. McClung
Katzenbach v. McClung is a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the federal government’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in local restaurants under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
E. Bolling v. Sharpe
Bolling v. Sharpe is a 1954 U.S. Supreme Court case that held racial segregation in Washington, D.C. public schools unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (55)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States Supreme Court case ⓘ constitutional law case ⓘ equal protection case ⓘ landmark affirmative action case ⓘ
areaOfLaw	civil rights law ⓘ education law ⓘ
arguedDate	1977-10-12 ⓘ
citation	438 U.S. 265 ⓘ
concurrenceBy	Byron R. White ⓘ Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ Thurgood Marshall ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted	Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ linked to: Fourteenth Amendment
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1978-06-28 ⓘ
dissentBy	John Paul Stevens ⓘ Potter Stewart ⓘ Warren E. Burger ⓘ William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
fullName	Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ
holding	Allan Bakke must be admitted to the University of California, Davis School of Medicine ⓘ Race may be considered as one factor among many in university admissions ⓘ Rigid racial quotas in admissions violate the Equal Protection Clause ⓘ The specific special admissions program at UC Davis School of Medicine was unconstitutional ⓘ
impact	established diversity in higher education as a compelling interest ⓘ limited the use of rigid racial quotas in admissions ⓘ
issue	constitutionality of racial quotas in university admissions ⓘ use of race as a factor in admissions decisions ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States federal law ⓘ
legalRule	Achieving a diverse student body can be a compelling governmental interest ⓘ Race-conscious admissions policies must be narrowly tailored ⓘ Racial classifications in admissions are subject to strict scrutiny ⓘ
locationOfLowerCourt	California ⓘ linked to: California, United States
majorityOpinionBy	Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ
opinionType	plurality opinion ⓘ
originatingCourt	Supreme Court of California ⓘ
pageInUnitedStatesReports	265 ⓘ
partyRoleOfAllanBakke	white male applicant to medical school ⓘ
petitioner	Regents of the University of California ⓘ linked to: University of California Board of Regents
programChallenged	special admissions program for minority applicants at UC Davis School of Medicine ⓘ
quotaDescription	16 of 100 seats reserved for minority applicants ⓘ
rearguedDate	1978-03-14 ⓘ
relatedInstitution	University of California, Davis School of Medicine ⓘ linked to: University of California, Davis
respondent	Allan Bakke ⓘ
shortName	Bakke ⓘ
statuteInterpreted	Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ⓘ
subjectMatter	Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ linked to: Equal Protection Clause Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ⓘ affirmative action in higher education admissions ⓘ
subsequentCaseInfluenced	Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin ⓘ Gratz v. Bollinger ⓘ Grutter v. Bollinger ⓘ
volumeOfUnitedStatesReports	438 ⓘ
yearDecided	1978 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (18)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution → keyCase → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

subject linked to: Fourteenth Amendment

Equal Protection Clause → basisFor → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke → fullName → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Lewis F. Powell Jr. → notableWork → majority opinion in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

linked to: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 → relatedCaseLaw → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin → relatedCase → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Allan Bakke → notableFor → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Allan Bakke → partyTo → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Grutter v. Bollinger → followedPrecedent → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court → hasNotableCase → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Bakke → hasFullName → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Bakke → shortFor → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Bakke → impact → influenced later affirmative action cases such as Gratz v. Bollinger ⓘ

linked to: Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Fisher I → relatedCase → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Warren Burger Court → notableCase → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Burger Court → notableCase → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

United States Supreme Court cases → hasPart → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College → limitedPrecedent → Regents of the University of California v. Bakke ⓘ

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (55)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (18)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited