Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

Decided June 26, 1978. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 76-811 · 438 U.S. 265 (1978) · Cited 1,665 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

“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.

• Lau v. Nichols · 414 U.S. 563 (1974)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburgh, Inc. v. Carey · 430 U.S. 144 (1977)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• Korematsu v. United States · 323 U.S. 214 (1945)
• Califano v. Webster · 430 U.S. 313 (1977)
• Cort v. Ash · 422 U.S. 66 (1975)
• Hirabayashi v. United States · 320 U.S. 81 (1943)
• Griggs v. Duke Power Co. · 401 U.S. 424 (1971)
• McDaniel v. Barresi · 402 U.S. 39 (1971)
• Yick Wo v. Hopkins · 118 U.S. 356 (1886)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County · 391 U.S. 430 (1968)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• North Carolina State Board of Education v. Swann · 402 U.S. 43 (1971)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Sweatt v. Painter · 339 U.S. 629 (1950)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Morton v. Mancari · 417 U.S. 535 (1974)
• DeFunis v. Odegaard · 416 U.S. 312 (1974)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• Califano v. Goldfarb · 430 U.S. 199 (1977)
• Kahn v. Shevin · 416 U.S. 351 (1974)
• Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. · 429 U.S. 252 (1977)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)

Cited by

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

• Grutter v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
• Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin · 570 U.S. 297 (2013)
• Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education · 476 U.S. 267 (1986)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Alexander v. Sandoval · 532 U.S. 275 (2001)
• Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 497 U.S. 547 (1990)
• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 551 U.S. 701 (2007)
• Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. · 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
• Cannon v. University of Chicago · 441 U.S. 677 (1979)
• Northeastern Florida Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America v. City of Jacksonville · 508 U.S. 656 (1993)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• Miller v. Johnson · 515 U.S. 900 (1995)
• Alexander v. Choate · 469 U.S. 287 (1985)
• Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts · 467 U.S. 561 (1984)
• Regents of the University of Michigan v. Ewing · 474 U.S. 214 (1985)
• United Steelworkers of America v. Weber · 443 U.S. 193 (1979)
• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• United States v. Paradise · 480 U.S. 149 (1987)
• Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
• Washington v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 458 U.S. 457 (1982)
• United States v. Clark · 445 U.S. 23 (1980)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• McCleskey v. Kemp · 481 U.S. 279 (1987)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)

Official text

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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).