Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

The Univeristy of California, Davis, declined a white applicant, (Bakke), a spot at their medical school.  However, minorities with a worse GPA were accepted.  Bakke sued the school under the idea that the 14th Amendment was being broken.  People of a different race were given a greater chance at being accepted.  The Court found the state guilty in a 5 to 4 split.  They decided that the 14th Amendment was universal and didn't aim to only help minorities, but to ensure justice for all.

      Assuming that the minorities were accepted with every aspect of admissions taken into consideration, (meaning that Bakke really did deserve the admission because of more than his GPA), then I agree with the court's decision.  The 14th Amendment is universal, and since this is a state school, there should be no excuse.  If the state wants a better chance for minorities they shouldn't deny whites admission, but equal the minorities chance at their previous schools of getting a fair education.  This was a form of discrimination.


There is still great debate of this ruling.  Even at the time people were opposed to it.  Many viewed it as a wrong doing against the 14th Amendment.  However, that isn't true, the ruling only supported the Amendment to extents that hadn't been fully appreciated.  There are bigger arguements against the ruling today that have more sustenance to them.  This is extremely controversial in the UC system right now as the regents are secretly still giving an advantage to underprivledged school systems and to minorities.  It's vague to what they are doing but they're being attacked by both sides of the bench.