Greenberg Statement on Supreme Court Bakke Ruling

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Press Releases, Volume 6. Greenberg Statement on Supreme Court Bakke Ruling, 1978. 8c84a76f-bb92-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/377a2379-18be-49ea-b3e1-5793a82a2b64/greenberg-statement-on-supreme-court-bakke-ruling. Accessed November 23, 2025.

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    BIC 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, INC. 

10 Columbus Circle, New York, N.Y. 10019 e (212) 586-8397 
ee 

efense GaaMgun 

From: NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc 
Ten Columbus Circle 
New York, New York 10019 
(212) 586-8397 

Contact: Jack Greenberg 
James M. Nabrit, III 

To: City Desk and Legal Editors 

New York, New York, June 28 - The following is a statement 

by Jack Greenberg, Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense 

and Educational Fund, on today's Supreme Court ruling in the 

Bakke case. 

"The validity of affirmative action has been upheld on both 

constitutional and statutory grounds. On the basic constitutional 

issue, four members of the Court upheld affirmative action across 

the board, four justices expressed no opinion, and Justice Powell 

adopted the view that affirmative action is proper under some 

but not all circumstances. The narrowness of Justice Powell's 

opinion means that uncertainty as to the validity of some affirmative 

action programs will continue, and that the matter will be the 

subject of continued litigation. But those who want to advance 

racial equality through affirmative action have a clear legal 

basis for doing so. We are hopeful that, when in some future 

case the constitutional issue is considered by the justices who 

did not reach it in this case, the general approval of affirmative 

= more = 

Contributions are deductible Jor U.S. income tax purposes 



action already adopted by four members of the Supreme Court 

will have the support of a majority of the Court." 

Greenberg argued the precedent setting case Brown v. 

Board of Education in 1954 which rejected the doctrine of 

"separate but equal" in education. The Legal Defense Fund, 

among others, filed an amicus brief in the Bakke case. 

NOTE TO EDITORS: The NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND, 
INC., (LDF) is not a part of the National Association for the 
Advancement of Colored People (N.A.A.C.P.) though it was founded 
by that organization and shares its commitment to equal rights. 
For 20 years, LDF has had its own Board of Directors, budget, 

staff, office and program.

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Greenberg Statement on Supreme Court Bakke Ruling

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