Gratz v. Bollinger | |
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Argued April 1, 2003 Decided June 23, 2003 | |
Full case name | Jennifer Gratz and Patrick Hamacher v. Lee Bollinger, et al. |
Docket no. | 02-516 |
Citations | 539 U.S. 244 (more) 123 S. Ct. 2411; 156 L. Ed. 2d 257; 2003 U.S. LEXIS 4801; 71 U.S.L.W. 4480; 91 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1803; 84 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) ¶ 41,416; 2003 Cal. Daily Op. Service 5362; 16 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 387 |
Case history | |
Prior | Summary judgment granted in part to plaintiffs, 122 F. Supp. 2d 811 (E.D. Mich. 2000); Summary judgment granted to plaintiffs, 135 F. Supp. 2d 790 (E.D. Mich. 2001); consolidated on appeal with Grutter v. Bollinger before en banc court, 277 F.3d 803 (6th Cir. 2001); cert. before judgment granted, 537 U.S. 1044 (2002). |
Subsequent | On remand, 80 Fed. App'x 417 (6th Cir. 2003) |
Holding | |
A state university's admission policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because its ranking system gave an automatic point increase to all racial minorities rather than making individual determinations. | |
Court membership | |
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Case opinions | |
Majority | Rehnquist, joined by O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas |
Concurrence | O'Connor, joined by Breyer (in part) |
Concurrence | Thomas |
Concurrence | Breyer (in judgment) |
Dissent | Stevens, joined by Souter |
Dissent | Souter, joined by Ginsburg (in part) |
Dissent | Ginsburg, joined by Souter, Breyer (in part) |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Const. amend. XIV |
Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the University of Michigan undergraduate affirmative action admissions policy. In a 6–3 decision announced on June 23, 2003, Chief Justice Rehnquist, writing for the Court, ruled the University's point system's "predetermined point allocations" that awarded 20 points towards admission to underrepresented minorities "ensures that the diversity contributions of applicants cannot be individually assessed" and was therefore unconstitutional.[1]