To what extent should employers or government agencies that have practiced discrimination be required to compensate minorities by giving them special consideration in their selection for employment or education?
The first major test of affirmative action before the Courts. The Court recognized, in principle, the validity of affirmative action programs, but rejected the specific application in this case. UC-Davis Medical School's use of a two-track admission system that involved the use of a quota system was found to be an unconstitutional form of "reverse discrimination"
Two University of Michigan cases. In each case the University's affirmative action admissions policies were challenged, both for its law school (Grutter) and for its undergraduate program (Gratz). The Court upheld the policy in Grutter because the consideration of race was more individualized and "narrowly tailored," but it struck down the point-system employed in the Gratz case because it gave a dispropotionate weight to race as a consideration.