Facts—The California Alien Land Law forbade aliens ineligible for citizenship to acquire, own, occupy, lease, or transfer agricultural land. The father, Kajiro Oyama, was a Japanese citizen ineligible for citizenship. He bought six acres of land in 1934, and the…
Facts—In 1943 Girouard filed a petition for naturalization in the District Court of Massachusetts. He stated in his application that he understood the principles of the U.S. government and that he was willing to take the oath of allegiance required…
Facts—Arizona passed a law providing that when any company, corporation, partnership, association, or individual employs more than five workers at any one time, not less than 80 percent must be qualified electors or native-born citizens of the United States or…
Facts—The collector of the port of San Francisco denied admission into the United States to Wong Kim Ark, a Chinese person who had been born in California and was returning from a temporary visit to China. His parents were subjects…
Facts—New Haven, Connecticut, used objective examinations to determine eligibility for promotion for firefighters, but it threw out results of its last test after whites outperformed African Americans. White and Hispanic firefighters who had done well sued the city, which had…
Facts—Grutter, a white Michigan resident who had applied to and been rejected by the law school at the University of Michigan, argued that the school had discriminated against her on the basis of race in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment…
Facts—Gratz and another petitioner, Hamacher, both white, applied to the University of Michigan’s undergraduate college in 1995 and 1997. Although “well qualified,” both were rejected. The university used a system of points, 100 (out of 150) of which were needed…
Facts—A division of the U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a contract for highway construction in Colorado to Mountain Gravel and Construction Company, which solicited bids for subcontracts for guardrails. It awarded the contract to Gonzalez Construction Company over Adarand Constructors…
Facts—In 1977 Congress passed the Public Works Employment Act, which provides that “at least 10 percent of federal funds for local public works projects must be used by the state or local grantee to procure services or supplies from businesses…
Facts—In 1974 the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) and Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation (Kaiser) entered into a master collective bargaining agreement covering terms and conditions of employment. It included an affirmative action plan designed to eliminate racial imbalances…