Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education

476 U.S. 267 · Decided May 19, 1986 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education was decided on May 19, 1986 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote the opinion announcing the judgment of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Affirmative action” in the Civil Rights area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Wygant et al. v. Jackson Board of Education et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1985-085, docket 1985-085-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: Fourteenth Amendment (equal protection)

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Same Term, same area (Civil Rights)

• California State Board of Equalization v. Chemehuevi Indian Tribe
  474 U.S. 9Decided November 4, 19855–4Per curiam
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• Daniels v. WilliamsAltered precedent
  474 U.S. 327Decided January 21, 19869–0William H. Rehnquist
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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error