515 U.S. 200 (1995), U.S. Supreme Court
Adarand Constructors v. Peña is a landmark equal protection decision that reshaped the constitutional framework for evaluating federal affirmative action programs.
Does the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause require that all federal racial classifications, including affirmative action incentives in government contracting, be reviewed under strict scrutiny rather than a more deferential standard?
All racial classifications imposed by government, whether federal, state, or local, are subject to strict scrutiny and are constitutional only if they are narrowly tailored to further a compelling governmental interest. The Court emphasized three principles: skepticism (all racial classifications are inherently suspect), consistency (the same standard applies regardless of which race is burdened or benefited), and congruence (the equal protection analysis under the Fourteenth Amendment and the equal protection component of the Fifth Amendment are coextensive). Metro Broadcasting is overruled to the extent it applied less than strict scrutiny to federal racial classifications.
Yes. Federal racial classifications must be analyzed under strict scrutiny. The Court vacated the judgment below, overruled Metro Broadcasting to the extent inconsistent with this standard, and remanded for application of strict scrutiny to the challenged federal contracting program.
Adarand standardizes equal protection review by imposing strict scrutiny on all governmental racial classifications, eliminating the former federal/state split. It overrules Metro Broadcasting's intermediate scrutiny for federal affirmative action, aligns federal practice with Croson, and clarifies that benign motives do not change the constitutional analysis. For law students, the case supplies a durable framework—skepticism, consistency, congruence—and ties strict scrutiny to both compelling interests and narrow tailoring in public contracting. It also foreshadows later debates over the scope of compelling interests and the rigor of narrow tailoring in education and beyond, while leaving space for race-conscious remedies that meet the demanding standard.