Wygant et al. v. Jackson Board of Education et al.

Decided May 19, 1986. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-1340 · 476 U.S. 267 (1986) · Cited 802 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.

• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• United Steelworkers of America v. Weber · 443 U.S. 193 (1979)
• Palmore v. Sidoti · 466 U.S. 429 (1984)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Hazelwood School District v. United States · 433 U.S. 299 (1977)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts · 467 U.S. 561 (1984)
• City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. · 473 U.S. 432 (1985)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Ford Motor Co. v. Huffman · 345 U.S. 330 (1953)
• Aeronautical Industrial District Lodge 727 v. Campbell · 337 U.S. 521 (1949)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 349 U.S. 294 (1955)
• Green v. County School Board of New Kent County · 391 U.S. 430 (1968)
• United States v. Carolene Products Co. · 304 U.S. 144 (1938)
• Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan · 458 U.S. 718 (1982)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody · 422 U.S. 405 (1975)
• Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co. · 415 U.S. 36 (1974)
• Shelley v. Kraemer · 334 U.S. 1 (1948)
• Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority · 365 U.S. 715 (1961)
• Vasquez v. Hillery · 474 U.S. 254 (1986)
• Graham v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 365 (1971)
• Strauder v. West Virginia · 100 U.S. 303 (1880)
• Steele v. Louisville & Nashville Railroad · 323 U.S. 192 (1944)
• DeFunis v. Odegaard · 416 U.S. 312 (1974)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• Marek v. Chesny · 473 U.S. 1 (1985)

Cited by

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

• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara Cty. · 480 U.S. 616 (1987)
• Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 · 551 U.S. 701 (2007)
• Local 28 of the Sheet Metal Workers' International Ass'n v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 478 U.S. 421 (1986)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• United States v. Paradise · 480 U.S. 149 (1987)
• Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 497 U.S. 547 (1990)
• Grutter v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 306 (2003)
• Bush v. Vera · 517 U.S. 952 (1996)
• Shaw v. Reno · 509 U.S. 630 (1993)
• Ricci v. DeStefano · 557 U.S. 557 (2009)
• Rutan v. Republican Party of Illinois · 497 U.S. 62 (1990)
• 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)
• Local Number 93, International Ass'n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland · 478 U.S. 501 (1986)
• Miller v. Johnson · 515 U.S. 900 (1995)
• Martin v. Wilks · 490 U.S. 755 (1989)
• Gratz v. Bollinger · 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
• Abrams v. Johnson · 521 U.S. 74 (1997)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust · 487 U.S. 977 (1988)
• Boos v. Barry · 485 U.S. 312 (1988)
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. Members of the New York State Crime Victims Board · 502 U.S. 105 (1991)
• Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College · 600 U.S. 181 (2023)
• Allen v. Milligan · 599 U.S. 1 (2023)

Official text

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

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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).