Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Federico Pena, Secretary of Transportation, et al.

Decided June 12, 1995. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-1841 · 515 U.S. 200 (1995) · Cited 1,322 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• Korematsu v. United States · 323 U.S. 214 (1945)
• Hirabayashi v. United States · 320 U.S. 81 (1943)
• Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 497 U.S. 547 (1990)
• Bolling v. Sharpe · 347 U.S. 497 (1954)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife · 504 U.S. 555 (1992)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• United States v. Paradise · 480 U.S. 149 (1987)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• Frontiero v. Richardson · 411 U.S. 677 (1973)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Buckley v. Valeo · 424 U.S. 1 (1976)
• Hampton v. Mow Sun Wong · 426 U.S. 88 (1976)
• Detroit Bank v. United States · 317 U.S. 329 (1943)
• City of Los Angeles v. Lyons · 461 U.S. 95 (1983)
• Monroe v. Pape · 365 U.S. 167 (1961)
• United States v. Dixon · 509 U.S. 688 (1993)
• Personnel Administrator of Mass. v. Feeney · 442 U.S. 256 (1979)
• Grady v. Corbin · 495 U.S. 508 (1990)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• Northeastern Florida Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America v. City of Jacksonville · 508 U.S. 656 (1993)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld · 420 U.S. 636 (1975)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Louisiana v. United States · 380 U.S. 145 (1965)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 551 U.S. 701 (2007)
• Grutter v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
• Johnson v. California · 543 U.S. 499 (2005)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
• Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin · 570 U.S. 297 (2013)
• Bethune-Hill v. Virginia State Bd. of Elections · 580 U.S. 178 (2017)
• Carney v. Adams · 592 U.S. 53 (2020)
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission · 558 U.S. 310 (2010)
• Hunt v. Cromartie · 526 U.S. 541 (1999)
• Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. · 551 U.S. 449 (2007)
• United States v. Windsor · 570 U.S. 744 (2013)
• Thole v. U. S. Bank N. A. · 590 U.S. 538 (2020)
• United States v. Vaello Madero · 596 U.S. 159 (2022)
• Ricci v. DeStefano · 557 U.S. 557 (2009)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn., Inc. v. Bruen · 597 U.S. 1 (2022)
• McDonald v. City of Chicago · 561 U.S. 742 (2010)
• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• Engquist v. Oregon Department of Agriculture · 553 U.S. 591 (2008)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• Dorsey v. United States · 567 U.S. 260 (2012)
• Olmstead v. L.C. · 527 U.S. 581 (1999)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Slater · 528 U.S. 216 (2000)
• Abrams v. Johnson · 521 U.S. 74 (1997)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

Sandra Day O'Connor’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).