European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 29, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A med school reject Allan Bakke. A victim of discrimination t ment. By Richard Carelli associated press he Constitution s 14th amendment which 109 years ago held out to Blacks the Promise of full membership in american society soon maybe the instrument by which a devastating blow is dealt to the nation s minority civil rights move the amendment ratified in 1868 granted citizenship to recently freed slaves and ordered All states not to deny to any person. The equal Protection of the  evil rights activists have employed those words Ever since in efforts to stamp out what they perceived to be vestiges of the slave system. Their greatest Victory Casein 1954 when the supreme court outlawed racial segregation As inherently  now the nation s highest court is considering a Case Many constitutional scholars believe could yield a decision equally historic. A year ago the California supreme court invoked the 14th amendment to strike Down a special admissions pro Gram used by a state run medical school to give minority students a boost. The court said the program discriminated against a White Man by denying him equal Protection. Allan Paul Bakke a White civil Engineer who decided relatively late in life to become a doctor was the victim of racial discrimination the court  had carried his Case against the University of California at Davis medical school to the state s highest court after being refused admission to the school in 1973 and 1974. He claimed the University s special admissions pro Gram which reserved 16 of the 100 openings in each entering class for disadvantaged students was really a racial quota that placed less qualified Black hispanic and asian american applicants ahead of him. The California court said the 14th amendment applies to any person and its lofty purpose to secure equal Ity of treatment to All is incompatible with the premise that some races May be afforded a higher degree of Protection against unequal treatment than  some affirmative actions were proper taking race into consideration for admissions could not meet constitutional challenges the California court said. Was the us Davis program a quota that May be the ultimate question facing the supreme court Magazine the Bakke Case another historic race relations decision looms meanwhile a Federal judge ordered the Davis medical school to admit Rita Clancy a White applicant and 22-year-old russian immigrant to medical classes this month. . District court judge Thomas Macbride issued temporary restraining order requiring her admittance since there was a Good likelihood she would have been admitted but for the program that reserves 16 of the 100 places in each medical school class for minorities. Macbride said that while the University awaits the supreme court ruling in the Bakke Case mrs. Clancy would suffer if she were not admitted immediately. The nation s leading civil rights attorneys most of whom admittedly were unaware of the Bakke Case until the California supreme court decision was handed Down recognized immediately the potential Impact. If Bakke wins the differences Between school pro Grams won t matter said Ralph Smith a professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law school and member of the National conference of Black lawyers. A Bakke Victory jeopardizes every program it could spark Chal Lenges to every school s affirmative action program. To say there would be 1,000 suits in a year is not a exaggeration he said. Still Many civil rights groups urged the University of California regents not to Appeal the ruling. They expressed concern about the suitability of the Bakke suit to Serveas such an important test Case. The University did Appeal however. It hired former watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox to argue its Case before the supreme court on oct. 12. Cox is no stranger before the nine justices. He served As solicitor general the Federal government s highest ranking court room attorney from 1961 to 1965. The Carter administration has asked the High court for permission to present its views during Oral arguments. If granted that Opportunity it is expected to bolster the pro affirmative action argument. In a Long awaited Friend of the court Brief the Justice department argued that the California supreme court was wrong in ruling that Public institutions and by Extension private educators and employers could not take race into consideration in admissions or hiring poli cies. It is appropriate to take race into account to adjust for differences in credentials that May have been caused by discrimination but do not reflect differences in ability to succeed or in ability to contrib Ute to the medical profession and the health of the general population the government Brief said. At the same time however the Justice department contended that Many factual questions remained unan swered by the Bakke Case Legal record. It urged the court not to Rule on the constitutionality of us Davis particular special admissions program until it could get those answers. Never in the past two decades has the court received so much unsolicited advice in a Case. Fifty eight Friend of the ourt briefs have been submitted from More than 160individuals, organizations and institutions. Forty two of them in varying degrees Back the univer sity s Appeal while 16 support Bakke. The pro Bakke briefs share two common themes that the California supreme court rightly interpreted the 14th amendment in ruling that race should not play a part unprofessional school admissions and that even if it should the us Davis medical school s program went too  program the Bakke supporters claim was a racial quota system which froze out White applicants solely be cause of their race. Even affirmative action supporters such As the Justice department and the american bar association pulled up Short of rebutting the quota allegation. Both said they support Broad affirmative action programs but oppose inflexible quotas which state How Many persons of one race have to be admitted to a school or hired by an employer. Atty. Gen. Griffin Bell said that there exists a line be tween goals and quotas which should not be crossed. Thursday september 29, 1977 Bakke s attorney Reynold Colvin of san Francisco is sure to argue that the us Davis medical school Cross Dover the line. In making the difficult admissions decisions reasonably selected numerical targets for minority admissions can be useful As a gauge of the pro Gram s effectiveness is How the Justice depart ment Brief phrased it. The Brief did not explain when a goal or numerical target crosses the line and be comes a quota. Such an explanation May become a vital part of the Bakke Case the heart of a Complex yet crucial constitutional showdown. Was the us Davis program a quota that May be the ultimate question facing the supreme court. Civil rights attorneys claim that quota has become a word that carries weighty psychological baggage and unemotional Wallop. But it was the civil rights Effort fight ing exclusive quotas that Long held Down minorities that gave the word its reputation. There s a difference said one Black attorney in Newyork. The quotas we fought against served no compel Ling state interest and could t meet the test applied bythe 14th amendment. Even if the Bakke Case involved a quota that quota serves a state interest so compelling Asto satisfy the constitutional  pro Bakke groups however claim that civil rights attorneys want it both ways. It is ironic that those who were once so resolutely opposed to racial Bias now seem so willing to endorse it when they perceive it to be in their interest said John s. Buckley National chairman of the conservative Young americans for Freedom. Traditionally Liberal jewish organizations which in the past have been aligned with other minority civil rights groups Back Bakke. They argue that a decision against Bakke could Only be reached by bending stretching or even breaking the Constitution. After hearing arguments the supreme court could take until the end of its term in june to reach any Deci Sion. Be it narrow or Broad it Likely will become an Inte Gral part of this nation s race relations. M-1llm� "4ood thing i m majoring in sociology the stars and stripes Page 13