Supreme Court DBQ: Equal Protection and Affirmative Action

The curriculum, Supreme Court DBQs, was made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities through its We the People program.

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Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies

8. Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning (e.g., in U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and dissents) and the premises, purposes, and arguments in works of public advocacy (e.g., The Federalist, presidential addresses).

Equal Protection and Affirmative Action: Related Cases

Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896, p. 41 Brown v. Board of Education, 1954, p. 53 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 1978 p. 63 Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, 2003, p. 75

In the Michigan affirmative action cases, which feature was considered constitutional in public university admissions policies?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The admission of a critical mass of minority students The use of an automatic award of points based on race The use of quotas based on race The rejection of race as a consideration in admission Not sure

Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) Gratz v.Bollinger (2003) p. 135

Courtesy Kjetil Ree

The Big Picture

Key Questions for the Equal Protection DBQs help students practice the thinking skill of grappling with causes and effects as they consider issues of equal protection in American history.

Scaffolding Questions
Work in groups to consider the documents and their scaffolding questions. Group 1: Documents A, B, C Group 2: Documents D, E Group 3: Documents F, G, H Group 4: Documents I, J Group 5: Documents K, L All groups: As time permits, discuss cartoon, p. 86. Report on your discussion:

Answer the scaffolding questions.

Explain how the scaffolding questions may be useful in helping understand the document. How does this document help us understand the issues involved in affirmative action for college admissions?

Summary of the 2003 Michigan Decisions

Gratz v. BollingerIn a 6-3 decision written by Chief Justice Rehnquist, the Court overturned the affirmative action program used in Michigans College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Agreeing with the position promoted by Jennifer Gratz, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote, "because the University's use of race in its current freshman admissions policy is not narrowly tailored to achieve respondents' asserted compelling interest in diversity, the admissions policy violates the Equal Protection Clause." The use of a mathematical formula awarding 20 of 100 possible points to every underrepresented minority applicant solely because of race was not consistent with the individualized consideration that Justice Powell contemplated in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978).

Summary of the 2003 Michigan Decisions

Since she filed her suit, Jennifer Gratz graduated from the University of Michigan Dearborn with a degree in mathematics and worked in the computer software industry before moving back to Michigan to lead the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.

Jennifer Gratz

Grutter v. Bollinger
In a 5-4 decision written by Justice OConnor, the Court upheld the affirmative action program used in the University of Michigans Law School. The Court reasoned that, because the Law School conducts highly individualized review of each applicant, no acceptance or rejection is based automatically on a variable such as race and that this process ensures that all factors that may contribute to diversity are meaningfully considered alongside race. The law schools approach, giving some preference to racial/ethnic minorities in an effort to achieve a critical mass in terms of diversitybut without assigning a mathematical formula, was seen as constitutional. Justice OConnor expressed the hope that in another 25 years, such affirmative action policies will be unnecessary.

Summary of the 2003 Michigan Decisions

Following her defeat in the Supreme Court, Barbara Grutter did not attend law school. Instead, she focuses on running her Michiganbased health care consulting company and bringing up her two children. She also serves on the board of directors of Towards a Fair Michigan, an organization dedicated to fostering public discussion about race preferences.

University of Michigan Law School 2009

In the Michigan affirmative action cases, which feature was considered constitutional in public university admissions policies?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. The admission of a critical mass of minority students The use of an automatic award of points based on race The use of quotas based on race The rejection of race as a consideration in admission Not sure

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