Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 29, 2016
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke was a landmark Supreme Court decision in 1978 upholding affirmative action. It found diversity in the classroom to be a compelling state interest and allowed race to be one of several factors in college admission policy, but rejected specific quotas, such as the 16 out of 100 seats set aside for minority students by the UC Davis School of Medicine. Although the court had outlawed segregation in schools, it had not resolved the legality of voluntary affirmative action programs initiated by universities. Proponents deemed such programs necessary to make up for past discrimination, while opponents believed they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The case fractured the court: the nine justices issued a total of six opinions. The judgment of the court was written by Justice Lewis Powell, and two different blocs of four justices joined various parts of Powell's opinion. The decision had little practical effect on most affirmative action programs. In 2003 the court upheld Powell's position in a majority opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger. (Full article...)